List of leaders of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

The leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is an elected member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly who serves as the legislative leader for the largest political party in the assembly that is not part of the government, provided that this political party holds at least ten percent of the seats in the assembly.

, there have been 19 leaders of the opposition from six different political parties and an independent. T. Nagi Reddy of the Communist Party of India became the first leader of opposition in the 1st Madras State Assembly. P. G. Karuthiruman of the Indian National Congress was the leader of opposition, when the state was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969, and thus became the first leader of opposition of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

The longest-serving leader of the opposition is J. Jayalalithaa from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), who has been the only female to hold the position. She held the office for five years and 280 days, followed by M. Karunanidhi of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), who held the office for five years and 259 days. O. Panneerselvam of the AIADMK had the shortest reign, holding the position for nine days. The position was left vacant on two occasions as no political party secured the required proportion of seats in the assembly.

The current incumbent is Udhayanidhi Stalin of the DMK since 11 May 2026.

List Key Resigned Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term +Leader of oppositionPortraitNameElected constituencyTerm of officeAssemblySpeakerPolitical partyAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1T. Nagi Reddy(1917–1976)Anantapur6 May 19521 October 19531 year, 148 days1stJ. ShivashanmugamCommunist Party of Indiarowspan=2 2P. Ramamurthi(1908–1987)Madurai North14 December 195331 March 19573 years, 107 days3V. K. Ramaswami(1901–1984)Uthiramerur29 April 195718 March 19624 years, 323 days2ndU. Krishna RaoIndependent4V. R. Nedunchezhiyan(1920–2000)Triplicane29 March 196228 February 19674 years, 336 days3rdS. ChellapandianDravida Munnetra Kazhagam5P. G. Karuthiruman(1919–1977)Sathyamangalam15 March 19675 January 19713 years, 296 days4thS. P. AdithanarIndian National Congress–Vacant22 March 197131 January 19764 years, 315 days5thcolspan=2 6M. Karunanidhi(1924–2018)Anna Nagar25 July 197717 February 19805 years, 259 days6thMunu AdhiDravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=2 27 June 198018 August 19837thK. Rajaram7K. S. G. Haja Shareef(1915–1999)Triplicane29 August 198315 November 19841 year, 78 daysIndian National Congressrowspan=2 8O. Subramanian(1921–2000)Sivaganga27 February 198530 January 19882 years, 337 days8thP. H. Pandian9J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)Bodinayakkanur9 February 19891 December 1989295 days9thM. TamilkudimaganAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=2 10S. R. Eradha(1934–2020)Madurai East1 December 198919 January 19911 year, 49 days11G. K. Moopanar(1931–2001)Papanasam19 January 199130 January 199111 daysIndian National Congressrowspan=2 12S. R. Balasubramoniyan( 1938)Pongalur3 July 199113 May 19964 years, 315 days10thSedapatti R. Muthiah13S. Balakrishnan(1936–2006)Mudukulathur23 May 199614 May 20014 years, 356 days11thP. T. R. Palanivel RajanTamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)14K. Anbazhagan(1922–2020)Harbour24 May 200114 April 20064 years, 325 days12thK. KalimuthuDravida Munnetra Kazhagam15O. Panneerselvam( 1951)Periyakulam19 May 200628 May 20069 days13thR. AvudaiyappanAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=2 (9)J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)Andipatti29 May 200614 May 20114 years, 350 days16Vijayakant(1952–2023)Rishivandiyam27 May 201121 February 20164 years, 270 days14thD. JayakumarDesiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam–Vacant22 February 201621 May 201689 dayscolspan=2 17M. K. Stalin( 1953)Kolathur4 June 20163 May 20214 years, 333 days15thP. DhanapalDravida Munnetra Kazhagam18Edappadi K. Palaniswami( 1954)Edappadi11 May 20215 May 20264 years, 359 days16thM. AppavuAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam19Udhayanidhi Stalin( 1977)Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni11 May 2026Incumbent17thJ. C. D. PrabhakarDravida Munnetra Kazhagam

Timeline

Statistics List of leaders of the opposition by length of term NamePartyLength of termLongest continuous termTotal duration of leadership1J. JayalalithaaAIADMK4 years, 350 days5 years, 280 days2M. KarunanidhiDMK5 years, 259 days5 years, 259 days3Edappadi K. PalaniswamiAIADMK4 years, 359 days4 years, 359 days4S. BalakrishnanTMC(M)4 years, 356 days4 years, 356 days5V. R. NedunchezhiyanDMK4 years, 336 days4 years, 336 days6M. K. StalinDMK4 years, 333 days4 years, 333 days7K. AnbazhaganDMK4 years, 325 days4 years, 325 days8V. K. RamaswamiIND4 years, 323 days4 years, 323 days9S. R. BalasubramoniyanINC4 years, 315 days4 years, 315 days10VijayakantDMDK4 years, 270 days4 years, 270 days11P. G. KaruthirumanINC3 years, 296 days3 years, 296 days12P. RamamurthiCPI3 years, 107 days3 years, 107 days13O. SubramanianINC2 years, 337 days2 years, 337 days14T. Nagi ReddyCPI1 year, 148 days1 year, 148 days15K. S. G. Haja ShareefINC1 year, 78 days1 year, 78 days16S. R. EradhaAIADMK1 year, 49 days1 year, 49 days17Udhayanidhi StalinDMK18G. K. MoopanarINC11 days11 days19O. PanneerselvamAIADMK9 days9 days

List by party + Parties by total time-span of their member holding the office of the leader of opposition (as of )Political partyCountDays1Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam5 days2Indian National Congress54948 days3All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam4 days4Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar)11817 days 5Communist Party of India21790 days6Independent11784 days7Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam11731 days

Parties by total duration (in days) of holding Leader of the Opposition's Office

List of deputy leaders of the opposition Key Resigned Returned to office after a previous non-consecutive term +Deputy leader of oppositionPortraitNameElected constituencyTerm of officeAssemblyPolitical partyLeader of the OppositionAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1M. Karunanidhi(1924–2018)Thanjavur29 March 196228 February 19674 years, 336 days3rdDravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=3 V. R. Nedunchezhiyanrowspan=3 2K. Anbazhagan(1922–2020)Purasawalkam25 July 197717 February 19805 years, 259 days6thM. Karunanidhi27 June 198018 August 19837th3Su. Thirunavukkarasar( 1949)Aranthangi9 February 198923 July 19901 year, 164 days9thAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=2 J. Jayalalithaa

S. R. Eradharowspan=2 4K. A. Sengottaiyan( 1948)Gobichettipalayam23 June 199019 January 1991180 daysS. R. Eradha5Duraimurugan( 1938)Katpadi24 May 200114 April 20064 years, 325 days12thDravida Munnetra KazhagamK. Anbazhagan(4)K. A. Sengottaiyan( 1948)Gobichettipalayam19 May 200628 May 20069 days13thAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=2 O. Panneerselvamrowspan=2 6O. Panneerselvam( 1951)Periyakulam29 May 200614 May 20114 years, 350 daysJ. Jayalalithaa7Panruti S. Ramachandran( 1937)Alandur27 May 201110 December 20132 years, 197 days14thDesiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagamrowspan=2 Vijayakantrowspan=2 8Alagaapuram R. Mohanraj( 1954)Salem North31 January 201421 February 20162 years, 21 days(5)Duraimurugan( 1938)Katpadi4 June 20163 May 20214 years, 333 days15thDravida Munnetra KazhagamM. K. Stalin(6)O. Panneerselvam( 1951)Bodinayakanur14 June 202111 July 20221 year, 27 days16thAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=2 Edappadi K. Palaniswamirowspan=2 9R. B. Udhayakumar( 1973)Thirumangalam19 July 20225 May 20263 years, 290 days10K. N. Nehru( 1952)Tiruchirappalli (West)11 May 2026Incumbent17thDravida Munnetra KazhagamUdhayanidhi Stalin

See also Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Elections in Tamil Nadu History of Tamil Nadu Politics of Tamil Nadu Governor of Tamil Nadu List of leaders of the house in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

Notes

References