AHMEDABAD: Four sitting Gujarat MLAs are among the 111 MPs and MLAs identified by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch as having changed political parties after winning elections between 2022 and 2026.
According to the ADR report released on September 24, the analysis covers sitting elected representatives who switched parties after winning elections, with data updated till July 12, 2026. The dataset includes 111 representatives — 26 Lok Sabha MPs, seven Rajya Sabha MPs and 78 MLAs — across 17 states and Union Territories.
ADR said Gujarat accounts for four of the 111 cases, all involving MLAs elected on Congress tickets who resigned from the Assembly, joined the BJP and later contested bye-elections.
The four MLAs are C J Chavda (Vijapur), Arjun Modhwadia (Porbandar), Arvindbhai Ladani (Manavadar) and Chirag Patel (Khambhat).
The report said Gujarat's four cases account for about 3.6 per cent of the 111 representatives analysed. Unlike the national dataset, where representatives switched between different parties through various mechanisms, all four Gujarat cases followed the same Congress-to-BJP route after resignation and bye-elections.
ADR divided the 111 cases into four categories: individual defection, party merger, resignation followed by a bye-election, and disqualification followed by a bye-election.
Among Assembly members, ADR recorded 70 MLAs who switched parties after being elected and eight MLAs who resigned, changed parties and later won bye-elections. Gujarat's four cases fall under the resignation-and-bye-election category.
State-wise, Nagaland recorded the highest number of party-switching representatives at 32, followed by West Bengal with 20 and Telangana with nine. Gujarat recorded four cases.
Party-wise, the BJP was the destination party for 29 of the 111 representatives, including seven Rajya Sabha MPs and 22 MLAs. Congress received nine representatives, while NPF received 32 and the Nationalist Citizens Party of India received 20.
ADR said the analysis raises concerns about the anti-defection framework, including the role of Speakers and Chairpersons in deciding disqualification petitions and delays in such proceedings. It also recommended shifting decisions on disqualification to the President or Governor acting on the Election Commission's advice, setting a six-month deadline for deciding disqualification petitions, bringing political parties under the RTI Act and creating a comprehensive legal framework for political parties.
The report said its dataset may not be exhaustive, as comprehensive official data on such cases is not readily available. ADR said the analysis is based on election affidavits and information from official legislative and Election Commission sources.
