Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha
Lok Sabhā ke Vipakṣa ke Netā
Emblem of India
Incumbent Vacant since 20 May 2014
Residence	New Delhi
Appointer	While 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)
Term length	5 years
Inaugural holder	Ram Subhag Singh (1969–1970)
Website	rajyasabha.nic.in

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).

History

In Lok Sabha until 1969, there was 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 was extended by the Act, 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 recognised by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha

In December 1969, the Congress Party (O) was recognised as the main opposition party in the parliament while its leader, Ram Subhag Singh plays the role of opposition leader.

Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha did not recognise an official Leader of the Opposition until 1969. The position was also vacant between 1980 and 1989 and at present, since 2014.

No.	Name	Portrait	Tenure			Lok Sabha	Party		Prime Minister of India
									Name	Party
1	Ram Subhag Singh		17 December 1969	27 December 1970	1 year, 10 days	4th	Indian National Congress (O)	bgcolor="Template:Indian National Congress (Organisation)/meta/color" |
–	Vacant	–	27 December 1970	30 June 1977		5th	No official opposition
2	Yashwantrao Chavan		1 July 1977	11 April 1978	284 days	6th	Indian National Congress
3	C. M. Stephen		12 April 1978	9 July 1979	1 year, 88 days
(2)	Yashwantrao Chavan		10 July 1979	28 July 1979	18 days
4	Jagjivan Ram		29 July 1979	22 August 1979	24 days		Janata Party
–	Vacant	–	22 August 1979	31 December 1984		7th	No official opposition
		–	31 December 1984	18 December 1989		8th
5	Rajiv Gandhi		18 December 1989	23 December 1990	1 year, 5 days	9th	Indian National Congress
6	L. K. Advani		24 December 1990	13 March 1991	2 years, 214 days		Bharatiya Janata Party
			21 June 1991	26 July 1993		10th
7	Atal Bihari Vajpayee		21 July 1993	10 May 1996	2 years, 289 days
8	P. V. Narasimha Rao		16 May 1996	31 May 1996	15 days	11th	Indian National Congress
(7)	Atal Bihari Vajpayee		1 June 1996	4 December 1997	1 year, 186 days		Bharatiya Janata Party
9	Sharad Pawar		19 March 1998	26 April 1999	1 year, 38 days	12th	Indian National Congress		Atal Bihari Vajpayee	Bharatiya Janata Party
10	Sonia Gandhi		31 October 1999	6 February 2004	4 years, 98 days	13th
(6)	L. K. Advani		21 May 2004	18 May 2009	4 years, 362 days	14th	Bharatiya Janata Party		Manmohan Singh	Indian National Congress
11	Sushma Swaraj		21 December 2009	19 May 2014	4 years, 149 days	15th
–	Vacant	–	20 May 2014	29 May 2019		16th	No official opposition because no party obtained at least 10% of the seats.		Narendra Modi	Bharatiya Janata Party
		–	30 May 2019	present		17th

See also

• Vice President of India (Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha)
• Deputy Chairman 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

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{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)