Increased strength of National Democratic Alliance in Lok Sabha from 2024

Lok Sabha session on July 22, 2026. Photo: Sansad TV via ANI

Since June, there have been major rifts in the Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). Twenty Trinamool MPs rebelled to merge with the Indian National Civic Party, a registered and unrecognized political party based in Tripura. On 19 June 2026, six MPs from the Shiv Sena (UBT) defected to the Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena camp. As a result, and amid opposition claims of these “illegal” and “unconstitutional” exchanges, the National Democratic Alliance’s strength in the Lok Sabha increased by 26 seats.

The two graphics below show these 26 MPs from Trinamool and Shiv Sena (UBT) who joined NCPI and Shiv Sena.

NCPI unites with BJP led NDA. With the addition of 26 MPs, the alliance’s strength in the Lok Sabha increased to 318 out of 293 seats.

The Trinamool and other opposition parties criticized the Trinamool rebels’ entry into the NCPI, with Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh saying the “bizarre move is part of the Union Home Minister’s strategy to create a two-thirds majority for the NDA in the Lok Sabha”. The defection of 20 rebels reduced the Trinamool’s strength in the Lower House to eight and the NCPI emerged as the NDA’s strongest ally. Here is the revised map of West Bengal Lok Sabha constituencies.

With the monsoon session ending on August 17, 2026, speculation is rife that the government – with its newly added strength – could revive the Constitution (131st Amendment) Act, which sought to redistribute Lok Sabha seats based on the 2011 census and introduce women’s reservation. On April 17, 2026, the bill failed to reach the required two-thirds majority and was defeated by a united opposition. However, the draft law was not included in the legislative agenda distributed among the deputies.

The government has not officially confirmed or denied reports that it may introduce a revised version of the bill during the session. The five bills introduced by the government for the monsoon session include:

The Prevention of Insults to National Honor (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to amend the 1971 Act to make it a criminal offense to intentionally insult or disturb during the singing of the national song Vande Mataram.
Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, which proposes stricter provisions for late registration
Income Tax Amendment Act 2026
Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2026
Draft Act on the Development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Amendment) of 2026

Published – 23 Jul 2026 23:01 IST