111 MPs and MLAs Changed Parties Since 2022: What the Anti-Defection Law Says and Why It Is Under Debate
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an election watchdog group, released an analysis with National Election Watch. It found that 111 elected lawmakers changed their party after winning an election between 2022 and 2026.
The 111 cases include 26 Lok Sabha members, 7 Rajya Sabha members and 78 MLAs (members of state Legislative Assemblies).
Nagaland had the most cases (32, all MLAs), mainly because of a realignment between two regional parties in the state. West Bengal came second (20, all Lok Sabha members). A claim that these 20 MPs merged into another party is pending before the Lok Sabha Speaker.
Other states with many cases were Telangana (9), Goa (8), Punjab (8), Maharashtra (6) and Meghalaya (6). The three parties that lost the most members together made up 58% of all cases.
The cases include individual defections, party mergers, resignations followed by winning a bypoll (a by-election held to fill an empty seat), and disqualification followed by winning a bypoll. ADR said some defections were linked to the fall of state governments.
ADR suggested three reforms: (1) let the President (for MPs) and Governors (for MLAs) decide disqualification cases on the advice of the Election Commission, instead of the Speaker or Chairman; (2) set a fixed time limit for deciding disqualification petitions; (3) bar defectors from holding public office until they are re-elected. It also noted that no official database tracks party switching.
Anti-Defection Law (Tenth Schedule)
The anti-defection law is a set of rules in the Constitution that punishes an elected lawmaker for leaving the party on whose ticket they won. It is found in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. If a Member of Parliament (MP) or a Member of a state Legislative Assembly or Council (MLA/MLC) "defects", they can lose their seat. The law was added by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985.
ADR's count of 111 party switches since 2022 shows that defections still happen often, including through mergers and resign-and-recontest routes. Its three suggestions, decision by the President or Governor on Election Commission advice, fixed timelines and a bar on public office, repeat long-standing proposals from the Dinesh Goswami Committee, NCRWC and the Supreme Court. The pending merger claim of 20 Lok Sabha members from West Bengal is a live test of how Paragraph 4 and the Speaker's powers work.
Disqualification of Legislators (Articles 102 and 191)
The Constitution lists reasons why a person cannot become, or cannot remain, an MP or MLA. For MPs, these are in Article 102. For state legislators, the same rules are in Article 191. Some reasons are written in the Constitution itself, and some come from laws made by Parliament, mainly the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA). Defection under the Tenth Schedule is only one of these reasons.
ADR's analysis counted cases where legislators were disqualified and then won bypolls, and cases where they resigned and re-contested. ADR's main proposal is to move defection cases to the same system already used under Articles 103 and 192, where the President or Governor decides on the Election Commission's opinion. Understanding the difference between these two systems is key to judging that proposal.
- Total party switches after winning elections (2022 to 2026): 111 (26 Lok Sabha, 7 Rajya Sabha, 78 MLAs)
- Highest: Nagaland 32 (all MLAs); West Bengal 20 (all Lok Sabha members)
- Others: Telangana 9, Goa 8, Punjab 8 (6 Rajya Sabha, 2 MLAs), Maharashtra 6, Meghalaya 6, Manipur 5
- Top three parties losing members accounted for 58% of cases; top three gaining parties absorbed 73%
- Report by: Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch
- ADR's reform ideas: President/Governor to decide on Election Commission advice; fixed time limits; defectors barred from public office until re-elected
- Anti-defection law: Tenth Schedule, 52nd Amendment Act, 1985; made stricter by the 91st Amendment Act, 2003
- Supreme Court guidance: decide disqualification petitions within 3 months (2020; repeated in the July 2025 Telangana case)