The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha (IAST: Lok Sabhā ke Vipakṣa ke Netā) is an elected Member of Lok Sabha who leads the official opposition in the Lower House of the Parliament of India. The leader of the opposition is the parliamentary chairperson of the largest political party in the Lok Sabha that is not in government (provided that said political party has at least 10% of the seats in the Lok Sabha). Rahul Gandhi is currently serving as the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
| Leader of the Opposition of Lok Sabha | |
|---|---|
| Lok Sabhā ke Vipakṣa ke Netā | |
Logo of The Lok Sabha | |
Incumbent since 9 June 2024Rahul Gandhi | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Type | Leader of the opposition |
| Status | Head of the opposition alliance or main opposition party |
| Residence | 10, Janpath, New Delhi |
| Nominator | Members of the Official Opposition in the Lok Sabha |
| Appointer | Speaker of the Lok Sabha |
| Term length | 5 years |
| Inaugural holder | Ram Subhag Singh (1969–1970) |
| Formation | 1950 |
| Deputy | Deputy Leader of the Opposition |
| Salary | ₹330,000 (US$3,900) (excl. allowances) per month |
| Website | sansad |
The office holder ranks 7th in the Order of Precedence of India.
History
In the Lok Sabha until 1969, there was a de facto opposition leader with no formal recognition, status or privilege. Later, the leader of the opposition was given official recognition, and their salary and allowances were extended by the Act of 1977. Since then, the leader in the Lok Sabha should satisfy three conditions, namely,
- They should be a member of the House
- of the party in opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and
- be recognized by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
In December 1969, the Congress Party (O) was recognized as the main opposition party in the parliament while its leader, Ram Subhag Singh played the role of the opposition leader.
Roles and responsibilities
A Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha has the following responsibilities.
- Status equivalent to Cabinet minister rank
- Member of selection committees
- Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation
- Chief Election Commissioner
- Election Commissioners
- Enforcement Director
- National Human Rights Commissioner
- Lokpal Chairperson
- Audit and Expenditure committee of Government expenditure
However, in the selection panels for most of these appointments, except the CBI, where the Chief Justice of India is a member of this three-member committee that includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India, the government holds a numerical advantage, i.e votes are in the government's favour. However, the Leader of the Opposition will still have a say.
Privileges and salary
The leader of opposition is a statutory post and officially recognized in “The salary and allowance of Leader of opposition act, 1977”.
List of leaders of the opposition in Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha did not officially recognize a leader of the opposition until 1969. The position was vacant between 1970 and 1977, between 1980 and 1989 and between 2014 and 2024. Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party has been appointed leader of the opposition in India's parliament, filling a post that had been empty for a decade.
| No. | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Tenure | Lok Sabha | Prime Minister | Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | Not Recognised | - | 15 August 1947 | 16 December 1969 | 22 years, 123 days | 1st
3rd 4th | Jawaharlal Nehru Gulzarilal Nanda Lal Bahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi | No official Opposition | |
| 1 | Ram Subhag Singh | Buxar | 17 December 1969 | 27 December 1970 | 1 year, 10 days | 4th | Indira Gandhi | Indian National Congress (O) | ||
| – | – | Vacant | – | 28 December 1970 | 30 June 1977 | 6 years, 185 days | 5th | No official opposition | ||
| 2 | Yashwantrao Chavan | Satara | 1 July 1977 | 11 April 1978 | 284 days | 6th | Morarji Desai | Indian National Congress | ||
| 3 | C. M. Stephen | Idukki | 12 April 1978 | 9 July 1979 | 1 year, 88 days | |||||
| (2) | Yashwantrao Chavan | Satara | 10 July 1979 | 28 July 1979 | 18 days | |||||
| 4 | Jagjivan Ram | Sasaram | 29 July 1979 | 22 August 1979 | 24 days | Charan Singh | Janata Party | |||
| – | – | Vacant | – | 23 August 1979 | 31 December 1984 | 10 years, 117 days | 7th | Indira Gandhi | No official opposition | |
| 1 January 1985 | 17 December 1989 | 8th | Rajiv Gandhi | |||||||
| 5 | Rajiv Gandhi | Amethi | 18 December 1989 | 23 December 1990 | 1 year, 5 days | 9th | VP Singh | Indian National Congress | ||
| 6 | L. K. Advani | New Delhi | 24 December 1990 | 13 March 1991 | 2 years, 214 days | Chandra Shekhar | Bharatiya Janata Party | |||
| Gandhinagar | 14 March 1991 | 20 July 1993 | 10th | P. V. Narasimha Rao | ||||||
| 7 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Lucknow | 21 July 1993 | 15 May 1996 | 2 years, 289 days | |||||
| 8 | P. V. Narasimha Rao | Berhampur | 16 May 1996 | 31 May 1996 | 15 days | 11th | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Indian National Congress | ||
| (7) | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Lucknow | 1 June 1996 | 4 December 1997 | 1 year, 186 days | Deve Gowda IK Gujral | Bharatiya Janata Party | |||
| 9 | Sharad Pawar | Baramati | 05 December 1997 | 30 October 1999 | 1 year, 38 days | 12th | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Indian National Congress | ||
| 10 | Sonia Gandhi | Amethi | 31 October 1999 | 6 February 2004 | 4 years, 98 days | 13th | ||||
| (6) | L. K. Advani | Gandhinagar | 21 May 2004 | 20 December 2009 | 5 years, 213 days | 14th | Manmohan Singh | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||
| 11 | Sushma Swaraj | Vidisha | 21 December 2009 | 19 May 2014 | 4 years, 149 days | 15th | ||||
| – | – | Vacant | – | 20 May 2014 | 29 May 2019 | 10 years, 19 days | 16th | Narendra Modi | No official opposition | |
| 30 May 2019 | 8 June 2024 | 17th | ||||||||
| 12 | Rahul Gandhi | Rae Bareli | 9 June 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 187 days | 18th | Indian National Congress | |||
Deputy leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha
The deputy leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha (IAST: Lok Sabhā ke Vipakṣa ke Upar Netā) is an elected Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha who serves the deputy to opposition leader in the Lower House of the Parliament of India.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Elected constituency | Term of office | Lok Sabha (Election) | Political party | Leader of the Opposition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||||
| 1 | Sushma Swaraj | Vidisha | 3 June 2009 | 21 December 2009 | 201 days | 15th (2009) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Lal Krishna Advani | |||
| 2 | Gopinath Munde | Beed | 22 December 2009 | 18 May 2014 | 4 years, 147 days | Sushma Swaraj | |||||
| 3 | Gaurav Gogoi | Jorhat | 14 July 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 152 days | 18th (2024) | Indian National Congress | Rahul Gandhi | |||
Statistics
List of leaders of the opposition by length of term
- Bharatiya Janata Party (16 years 321 days) (21.6%)
- Indian National Congress (10 years, 3 days) (13.8%)
- Indian National Congress (Organisation) (1 year 10 days) (1.31%)
- Janata Party (25 days) (0.08%)
- Vacant (34.5%)
- Not Recognised (28.7%)
| No. | Name | Party | Length of term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest continuous term | Total years of opposition-ship | ||||
| 1 | Lal Krishna Advani | BJP | 5 years, 213 days | 8 years, 62 days | |
| 2 | Sushma Swaraj | BJP | 4 years, 149 days | 4 years, 149 days | |
| 3 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | BJP | 2 years, 289 days | 4 years, 110 days | |
| 4 | Sonia Gandhi | INC | 4 years, 98 days | 4 years, 98 days | |
| 5 | Rahul Gandhi | INC | 1 year, 187 days | 1 year, 187 days | |
| 6 | C. M. Stephen | INC | 1 year, 88 days | 1 year, 88 days | |
| 7 | Sharad Chandra Pawar | INC | 1 year, 38 days | 1 year, 38 days | |
| 8 | Ram Subhag Singh | INC(O) | 1 year, 10 days | 1 year, 10 days | |
| 9 | Rajiv Gandhi | INC | 1 year, 5 days | 1 year, 5 days | |
| 10 | Yashwantrao Chavan | INC | 284 days | 302 days | |
| 11 | Jagjivan Ram | JP | 24 days | 24 days | |
| 12 | P. V. Narasimha Rao | INC | 15 days | 15 days | |
| – | Vacant | – | – | 10 years 117 days | 26 years 321 days |
| – | Not Recognised | – | – | 22 years 123 days | 22 years 123 days |
See also
- Vice-President of India (Chairman of the Rajya Sabha)
- Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha
- Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha
- Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha
- Leader of the House in Lok Sabha
- Secretary General of the Lok Sabha
Further reading
- Manisha, M. (2010–2011), Parliamentary Efficacy and the Role of the Opposition: A Comparative Study of the 2nd and 14th Lok Sabha (PDF), Rajya Sabha Fellowship for Parliamentary Studies, rajyasabha.nic.in
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