Telling Numbers | Candidates, legislators who switched parties to recontest: Congress lost most

Since 2014, the Congress accounts for 1 in every 5 candidates who have left the party during elections and contested from another party, and 1 in every 3 MPs/MLAs who left to re-contest from another party, according to an analysis by the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The analysis covers the affidavits of 1,133 candidates and 500 MPs and MLAs, who changed parties and re-contested Lok Sabha and Assembly elections/bypolls between 2014 and 2021.

Among the candidates, 222 (20%) left the Congress. As many as 253 (22%) joined the BJP, according to the data released by the ADR.

Story continues below this ad

Among the MPs/MLAs, 177 (35%) went from the Congress. One-third of the 500 — 173 (35%) joined the BJP, the ADR said.

Source: ADR

Newsletter | Click to get the day’s best explainers in your inbox

Also in Explained | Telling Numbers: Indian youth marrying later, but traditional attitudes remain