Independent member, in India, a member elected as such to a Legislative House otherwise than as a candidate set up by any political party, Constitution of India, 10th Sch., para 2(2).
Is a person not an adherent of any political party, Webster American Dictionary, p. 970.
Is a member of Parliament who acknowledges no allegiance to any political party; in U.K. 'indepen-dent' at one time meant independent of the king; during the 18th century, meant independent of the government able to vote as he pleased and is only governed by his conscience as to the regularity of his attendance in the House, the Office of the Speaker in the Parliaments of Commonwealth, Wilding and Philip Laundry, p. 377.