Nagaland recorded the highest number of sitting MPs and MLAs who changed political parties after being elected, with 32 lawmakers from the state included in a nationwide analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
According to the ADR report, a total of 111 sitting MPs and MLAs across 17 States and Union Territories changed political parties after being elected to the current Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and State Assemblies. Of these, 26 were Lok Sabha MPs, seven Rajya Sabha MPs and 78 were MLAs.
Nagaland accounted for 32 of the 111 cases, or 29 per cent of the total, followed by West Bengal with 20, or 18 per cent.
The ADR classified the party changes into four categories: individual defection, where a legislator voluntarily left one party for another without resigning from the House; party merger, where a party or a substantial section of its legislative wing formally merged with another; resignation followed by a bye-election, where a legislator resigned, joined a new party and won the subsequent bye-election; and disqualification followed by a bye-election, where a member was disqualified under the Tenth Schedule, later joined another party and regained the seat through a bye-election.
Nagaland’s high number of cases was driven largely by a party merger, with the report citing the coming together of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the Naga People’s Front (NPF) as an example of this category.
All 32 cases from Nagaland involved MLAs. The list includes legislators who were originally elected on NDPP tickets and later became part of the NPF following the merger of the two parties in October 2025. It also includes legislators who moved from the NCP to the NDPP and subsequently became part of the NPF, as well as those who switched directly to the NPF.
At the national level, representatives originally elected from the NDPP accounted for the largest number of those listed as having changed parties, with 25 cases, followed by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) with 20 and the Indian National Congress (INC) with 19.
On the receiving side, the NPF had the highest number of representatives joining the party, with 32, followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 29 and the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) with 20, according to the ADR analysis.
ADR has raised concerns over the frequency of party switching and recommended changes to the anti-defection framework, including amendments to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and a time-bound mechanism for deciding disqualification petitions.
The organization has also called for greater transparency in the functioning and funding of political parties, stronger provisions for inner-party democracy and disclosure requirements for candidates who change or join political parties.
The report covers party changes among sitting lawmakers recorded as of July 12, 2026.
