Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha

The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha (IAST: ) 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.

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 Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament 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 recognised leader of the opposition in India's parliament, filling a post that had been empty for a decade.

No.PortraitNameConstituencyTenureLok SabhaPrime MinisterParty 1 Ram Subhag SinghBuxar 17 December 1969 27 December 19704thIndira Gandhi Indian National Congress (O) – Vacant 28 December 1970 30 June 19775th No official opposition 2 Yashwantrao ChavanSatara 23 March 1977 12 April 19786thMorarji Desai Indian National Congress (R) 3 C. M. StephenIdukki 12 April 1978 10 July 1979 (2) Yashwantrao ChavanSatara 10 July 1979 28 July 1979 4 Jagjivan RamSasaram 29 July 1979 22 August 1979Charan Singh Janata Party – Vacant 23 August 1979 31 December 19847thIndira Gandhi No official opposition 1 January 1985 17 December 19898thRajiv Gandhi 5 Rajiv GandhiAmethi 18 December 1989 24 December 19909thVP Singh Indian National Congress (I) 6 L. K. AdvaniNew Delhi 24 December 1990 13 March 1991Chandra Shekhar Bharatiya Janata PartyGandhinagar 21 June 1991 25 July 199310thP. V. Narasimha Rao 7 Atal Bihari VajpayeeLucknow 26 July 1993 10 May 1996 8 P. V. Narasimha RaoBerhampur 16 May 1996 31 May 199611thAtal Bihari Vajpayee Indian National Congress (7) Atal Bihari VajpayeeLucknow 1 June 1996 4 December 1997Deve GowdaIK Gujral Bharatiya Janata Party 9 Sharad PawarBaramati 05 December 1997 26 April 199912thAtal Bihari Vajpayee Indian National Congress 10 Sonia GandhiAmethi 13 October 1999 6 February 200413th (6) L. K. AdvaniGandhinagar 22 May 2004 21 December 200914thManmohan Singh Bharatiya Janata Party 11 Sushma SwarajVidisha 21 December 2009 18 May 201415th – Vacant 20 May 2014 29 May 2019 16thNarendra Modi No official opposition 30 May 2019 8 June 202417th 12 Rahul Gandhi Rae Bareli 9 June 2024 Incumbent 18th Indian National Congress

Statistics

List of leaders of the opposition by length of term

No.NamePartyLength of termLongest continuous termTotal years of opposition-ship1Lal Krishna AdvaniBJP5 years, 213 days8 years, 62 days2Sushma SwarajBJP4 years, 148 days4 years, 148 days3Atal Bihari VajpayeeBJP2 years, 289 days4 years, 110 days4Sonia GandhiINC4 years, 116 days4 years, 116 days5Rahul GandhiINC6C. M. StephenINC1 year, 89 days1 year, 89 days7Sharad PawarINC1 year, 38 days1 year, 38 days8Ram Subhag SinghINC(O)1 year, 10 days1 year, 10 days9Rajiv GandhiINC1 year, 6 days1 year, 6 days10Yashwantrao ChavanINC1 year, 18 days1 year, 36 days11Jagjivan RamJP24 days24 days12P. V. Narasimha RaoINC15 days15 daysVacant10 years 117 days26 years 321 daysNot Recognised22 years 123 days22 years 123 days

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha

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