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 [1] 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.
Contents
- Chronological list (Legislative Assembly)
- Chronological list (Legislative Council)
- See also
- References
As of December 2024, 10 women have served as leaders of the opposition in 8 out of 28 state assemblies, while only two women have served in two of the seven legislative councils. Three union territory assemblies never had the female leaders of the opposition. The first female leader of the opposition was Prabha Rau of Maharashtra when she became leader of the opposition in the legislative assembly in February 1979. 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 two female leaders of the opposition. 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.
Rabri Devi is the only incumbent female leader of the opposition in Bihar Legislative Council. No incumbent female leader of the opposition in state legislative assembly. [2]
