The leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha (IAST: ) is an elected member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha who leads the official opposition in the Upper House of the Parliament of India. The leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha is the parliamentary chairperson of the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha that is not in government.

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

History In the Rajya Sabha until 1969, the title of opposition leader only existed de facto and had 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 Rajya Sabha should satisfy three conditions, namely,

he should be a member of the House of the party in opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and be recognised by the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha

In December 1969, the Congress Party (O) was recognised as the main opposition party in the parliament while its leader, Shyam Nandan Mishra plays the role of opposition leader. M. S. Gurupadaswamy was later elected the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha after Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra completed his tenure. However, Gurupadaswamy's appointment was declared with no formal announcement.

Role and responsibilities The Leader of Opposition (LoP) looks at government policies formulated for the rights of minorities and demands debate and criticises the government if ruling party tries to avoid debates on such policy. LoP also debates on the country's foreign relations and trade when it poses security threats on the national security.

Privileges and salary Opposition leaders play a significant role in government policies and their implementation by the ruling party. Sometimes, opposition leaders question government about the country's national security and development. After the constitution of India created a separate law on 1 November 1977 for opposition leaders, the salary was extended.Salary and other suitable facilities are extended to them through a separate legislation brought into force on 1 November 1977

List of leaders of the opposition in Rajya Sabha

Following members have been the leaders of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha. PortraitName(borndied)ConstituencyTerm of office Political party Government Leader of HouseChairman No official opposition (13 May 195217 December 1969)1Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra 18 December1969 11 March1971 Indian National Congress (O)Indira IIKodardas Kalidas Shah Gopal Swarup Pathak2M. S. Gurupadaswamy24 March19712 April1972Indira IIIUma Shankar Dikshit No official opposition (2 April 197230 March 1977)3Kamalapati Tripathi30 March197715 February1978 Indian National Congress (R) Desai L. K. Advani B. D. Jatti4Bhola Paswan Shastri24 February197823 March1978 (3) Kamalapati Tripathi 23 March1978 8 January1980 Indian National Congress (Urs)CharanK. C. Pant Mohammad Hidayatullah5L. K. Advani21 January19807 April1980Janata PartyIndira IVPranab Mukherjee No official opposition (7 April 198018 December 1989) 6 P. Shiv Shankar 18 December1989 2 January1991 Indian National Congress (I) VishwanathM. S. Gurupadaswamy Shankar Dayal Sharma Chandra ShekharYashwant Sinha(2)M. S. Gurupadaswamy28 June199121 July1991 Janata DalRao Vacant7S. Jaipal Reddy22 July199129 June1992 Shankarrao Chavan 8 Sikander Bakht 7 July1992 16 May1996 Bharatiya Janata Party K. R. Narayanan9Shankarrao Chavan23 May19961 June1996Indian National CongressVajpayee ISikander Bakht (8) Sikander Bakht 1 June1996 19 March1998 Bharatiya Janata Party Deve GowdaInder Kumar GujralH. D. Deve Gowda Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral Krishan Kant 10 Manmohan Singh 19 March1998 22 May2004 Indian National Congress Vajpayee IISikander Bakht Vajpayee III Jaswant Singh Bhairon Singh Shekhawat 11 Jaswant Singh 3 June2004 16 May2009 Bharatiya Janata Party Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Mohammad Hamid Ansari12Arun Jaitley3 June200926 May2014 Manmohan II 13 Ghulam Nabi Azad8 June201410 February2015 Indian National Congress Modi I Arun Jaitley 23 February2015 15 February2021 M. Venkaiah Naidu Modi II Thawar Chand Gehlot 14 Mallikarjun Kharge 16 February2021 Incumbent Piyush GoyalJagdeep Dhankhar Modi IIIJ. P. NaddaC.P. Radhakrishnan

See also Vice-President of India (Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha) Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha Speaker of the Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Leader of the House in Lok Sabha Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha Statistics #LoP in Rajya SabhaPartyTermsLength of term Longest tenure Total tenure 1 Ghulam Nabi Azad 2 6 years, 252 days 6 years, 252 days 2 Manmohan Singh 2 6 years, 64 days 6 years, 64 days 3 Sikander Bakht 2 3 years, 314 days 5 years, 240 days 4 Mallikarjun Kharge 2 5 Arun Jaitley 1 4 years, 357 days 4 years, 357 days 6 Jaswant Singh 1 4 years, 347 days 4 years, 347 days 7 Kamalapati Tripathi INC(O) / INC(R) 2 1 year, 291 days 2 years, 248 days 8 Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra 1 1 year, 83 days 1 year, 83 days 9 M. S. Gurupadaswamy INC(O) / JD 2 1 year, 9 days 1 year, 32 days 10 P. Shiv Shankar 1 1 year, 15 days 1 year, 15 days 11 Jaipal Reddy 1 343 days 343 days 12 L. K. Advani 1 77 days 77 days 13 Bhola Paswan Shastri 1 27 days 27 days 14 Shankarrao Chavan 1 9 days 9 daysVacant 3 17 years, 218 days 32 years, 105 days

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