The leader of the opposition is the politician who leads the official opposition in the State legislative assemblies of India and State legislative councils of India. Official Opposition is a term used in legislative Assemblies to designate the political party which has secured the second largest number of seat assembly. In order to get formal recognition, the party must have at least 10% of the total membership of the Legislative Assembly. A single party has to meet the 10% seat criterion, not an alliance. Many of the Indian state legislatures also follow this 10% rule, while the rest of them prefer the single largest opposition party according to the rules of their respective houses.
As of , 13 women have served as leaders of the opposition in 9 out of 28 state assemblies and 1 out of 3 Union Territory assemblies, while only two women have served in two of the seven legislative councils. The first female leader of the opposition was Arutla Kamala Devi of Andhra Pradesh when she became leader of the opposition in the legislative assembly in February 1964. C. Motamma is the first female leader of the opposition in the state legislative council. Jamuna Devi was the longest-serving leader of the opposition, followed by Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Maharashtra and Punjab are the only two states that had three and two female leaders of the opposition, respectively. Rabri Devi is the only female leader who served as the leader of the opposition in both the legislative assembly and legislative council of her respective state Bihar. Jamuna Devi and Indira Hridayesh are the only two who died in the office.
Among these 14 women leaders of opposition in both houses, four also served as leader of the house (also Chief Minister) of their respective state. These were Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Rabri Devi, Vasundhra Raje and Atishi Marlena. While J. Jayalalithaa served as Chief Minister but not the leader of the house. Only Jayalalithaa, Rajinder Kaur and Jamuna Devi served two non-consecutive terms in state legislative assemblies, while Rabri Devi served three non-consecutive terms in the state legislative council. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir , Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram , Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim ,Telangana Uttar Pradesh doesn't have woman opposition leader.
Rabri Devi is the incumbent female leader of the opposition in Bihar Legislative Council. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bihar-ex-cm-and-rjd-leader-rabri-devi-appointed-leader-of-opposition-in-state-legislative-council/articleshow/111883715.cms Atishi Marlena is the incumbent leader of opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly.
Lok Sabha No.PortraitNameConstituencyTenureLok SabhaParty. 1 Sonia GandhiAmethi 31 October 1999 6 February 200413th Indian National Congress 2 Sushma SwarajVidisha 21 December 2009 19 May 201415th Bharatiya Janata Party
State legislature State legislative councils
Key
Incumbent leader of the opposition Died in office
(1) (1)No.PortraitName Term of officeStatePolitical partyChief MinisterRefAssumed officeLeft officeTime in office1C. Motamma1 September 201017 June 20121 year, 290 daysKarnatakaIndian National CongressB. S. Yediyurappa & Sadananda Gowda2Rabri Devi*12 May 201823 June 20202 years, 162 daysBiharRashtriya Janata Dal rowspan=3 Nitish Kumar & Samrat Choudhary11 April 20229 August 202216 February 2024Incumbent
State legislative assemblies
Key
Resigned Died in office Incumbent leader of the opposition
(1) (1) (1) (1) (7) (1) (1)No.PortraitName Term of officeState/Union territoryPolitical partyGovernment RefAssumed officeLeft officeTime in officeChief MinisterParty1Arutla Kamala Devi21 February 19641 March 1967Andhra PradeshCommunist Party of IndiaKasu Brahmananda ReddyIndian National Congress2Prabha Rau? February 197913 July 1979~5-6 monthsMaharashtraIndian National Congressrowspan=4 Sharad PawarIndian Congress (Socialist)rowspan=2 Lok Sabha Members – Prabha Rau Profile Lok Sabha3Pratibha Patil16 July 197917 February 1980216 days4Gurbinder Kaur Brar29 September 198511 May 19871 year, 224 daysPunjabSurjit Singh BarnalaShiromani Akali Dal5K. S. Nagarathnamma29 January 198721 April 19892 years, 85 daysKarnatakaRamakrishna Hegde & S. R. BommaiJanata Party6Mrinal Gore23 December 198819 October 1989300 daysMaharashtraJanata PartySharad PawarIndian National Congress7J. Jayalalithaa(1948–2016)9 February 19891 December 19895 years, 280 daysTamil NaduAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=2 M. KarunanidhiDravida Munnetra Kazhagamrowspan=2 29 May 200614 May 20118Rajinder Kaur Bhattal12 February 199710 October 19986 years, 253 daysPunjabIndian National Congressrowspan=4 Prakash Singh BadalShiromani Akali Dalrowspan=2 1 March 200714 March 20129Jamuna Devi16 December 200311 December 20086 years, 259 daysMadhya PradeshUma Bharti, Babulal Gaur & Shivraj Singh ChauhanBharatiya Janata Partyrowspan=2 MP Leader of Oppn Jamuna Devi dies at 807 January 200924 September 2010Shivraj Singh Chauhan10Rabri Devi30 November 200524 November 20104 years, 359 daysBiharRashtriya Janata DalNitish KumarJanata Dal (United)11Vasundhara Raje2 January 200920 February 20134 years, 49 daysRajasthanBhartiya Janata PartyAshok GehlotIndian National Congress12Indira Hridayesh27 March 201713 June 20214 years, 78 daysUttarakhandIndian National CongressTrivendra Singh Rawat & Tirath Singh RawatBhartiya Janata Partyrowspan=2 13Atishi Marlena* 23 February 2025 Incumbent National Capital Territory of DelhiAam Aadmi Party Rekha Gupta tribuneindia.com
See also List of female governors in India List of female lieutenant governors and administrators in India List of female chief ministers in India List of female deputy chief ministers in India List of female legislative speakers and chairpersons in India List of female chief justices in India List of current Indian opposition leaders
References