111 lawmakers changed parties. Telangana supplied nine
An ADR analysis counts nine Telangana cases, all involving MLAs first elected on BRS tickets, with Congress identified as the main recipient.
ADR counted nine Telangana MLAs among 111 lawmakers who changed parties after winning elections.
An analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch counted 111 sitting legislators who changed political parties after winning elections during the 2022–2026 period. The list includes 26 Lok Sabha MPs, seven Rajya Sabha members and 78 MLAs. The report was published on September 24, 2026. (ADR)
Telangana accounted for nine cases, according to the reported findings. All nine involved MLAs originally elected as Bharat Rashtra Samithi candidates, with Congress described as the principal recipient. That is the state’s contribution to a national political marketplace in which the voter apparently gets a representative and parties get a transfer window. (Rediff)
ADR’s count is broader than legally established defections: it includes individual switches, mergers, resignations followed by by-election victories, and disqualifications followed by by-election victories. Nagaland recorded 32 cases and West Bengal 20. NPF, BJP and NCPI together received 81 of the 111 lawmakers, according to the reported analysis. (Hindustan Times)
The nine Telangana legislators still need to be checked against the underlying ADR table and Assembly records. Congress, meanwhile, has acquired the numbers and not, so far, an explanation worth putting beside them.