Anti-Defection Law: How MLAs Switch Sides and Keep Their Seats

Every time a state government wobbles in India — an overnight resort exodus of MLAs, a sudden "resignation" of a dozen legislators, a chief minister scrambling for numbers — one ph

What the anti-defection law actually says

The anti-defection law lives in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, added by the 52nd Amendment in 1985 during Rajiv Gandhi's government.

- If they voluntarily give up membership of the party they were elected on.

For independents, accepting any party's membership after the election triggers disqualification.