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Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha

(Redirected from Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha))
For Rajya Sabha, see Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

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).[1] Rahul Gandhi is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.[2]

Leader of the Opposition of Lok Sabha
Lok Sabhā ke Vipakṣa ke Netā
Emblem of India
Incumbent
Rahul Gandhi
since 9 June 2024
StyleThe Honourable
TypeLeader of the opposition
StatusHead of the opposition alliance or main opposition party
Residence10, Janpath, New Delhi
NominatorMembers of the Official Opposition in the Lok Sabha
AppointerSpeaker of the Lok Sabha
Term length5 years
Inaugural holderRam Subhag Singh (1969–1970)
Formation1950
DeputyDeputy Leader of the Opposition
Salary₹330,000 (US$4,000)
(excl. allowances) per month
Websiteloksabha.nic.in

The office holder ranks 7th in the Order of Precedence of India.[3]

History

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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,

  1. he should be a member of the House
  2. of the party in opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and
  3. 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

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  • Status equivalent to Cabinet minister rank
  • Member of selection committees
    • Central bureau of investigation
    • Chief Election commissioner
    • Election commissioners
    • Enforcement director
    • National Human Rights Commissioner
    • Lokpal Chief
    • Audit and Expenditure committee of Government expenditure

Privileges and salary

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The leader of opposition is a statutory post and officially recognized in “The salary and allowance of Leader of opposition act, 1977”.[1]

List of leaders of the opposition in Lok Sabha

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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.[4] 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.[5]

  Vacant
No. Portrait Name Constituency Tenure Lok Sabha Prime Minister Party
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[6]
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 5 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[6][7]
30 May 2019 8 June 2024 17th
12   Rahul Gandhi Raebareli 9 June 2024 Incumbent 167 days 18th Indian National Congress[8]

Statistics

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List of leaders of the opposition by length of term

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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, 174 days
2 Sushma Swaraj BJP 4 years, 148 days 4 years, 148 days
3 Sonia Gandhi INC 4 years, 116 days 4 years, 116 days
4 Atal Bihari Vajpayee BJP 2 years, 289 days 3 years, 110 days
5 C. M. Stephen INC 1 year, 89 days 1 year, 89 days
6 Sharad Chandra Pawar INC 1 year, 38 days 1 year, 38 days
7 Yashwantrao Chavan INC 1 year, 20 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, 6 days 1 year, 6 days
10 Rahul Gandhi INC 167 days 167 days
11 Jagjivan Ram JP 25 days 25 days
12 P. V. Narasimha Rao INC 16 days 15 days
 – Vacant  –  – 14 years 320 days 44 years 180 days

Fraction of time of holding LoP by party (as of August 2024)

  Bharatiya Janata Party (16 years 67 days) (21.01%)
  Indian National Congress (9 years, 172 days) (11.70%)
  Indian National Congress (Organisation) (1 year 10 days) (1.33%)
  Janata Party (25 days) (0.09%)
  Vacant (65.87%)

Deputy leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha

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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[9] 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 132 days 18th

(2024)

Indian National Congress Rahul Gandhi

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Who is Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha? A look at powers and possible candidates this time". Livemint. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Rahul Gandhi as LoP after 10 years: 'Shadow PM' powers in Lok Sabha explained". India Today. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  3. ^ "What powers will Rahul Gandhi have in Lok Sabha as Leader of Opposition?". Hindustani Times. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Lok Sabha". Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Rahul Gandhi's big test as India's opposition leader". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b "No leader of oppn? There wasn't any in Nehru, Indira, Rajiv days". Rediff. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Narendra Modi government will not have Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha again". India Today.
  8. ^ "Speaker has recognised Congress MP Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha with effect from 9th June 2024".
  9. ^ The ordinal number of the term being served by the person specified in the row in the corresponding period

Further reading

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