Official Opposition (India)

Last updated

In India, Official Opposition designates largest party not supporting the ruling cabinet in the Parliament of India or a State or Territory Legislative Assembly. To get formal recognition in either upper or lower houses, the opposition party must have at least 10% of the total strength of the house. [1] [ failed verification ]

Contents

Role

The Opposition's main role is to question the government of the day and hold them accountable to the public. This also helps to fix the mistakes of the Ruling Party. The Opposition is equally responsible in upholding the best interests of the people of the country. They have to ensure that the Government does not take any steps, which might have negative effects on the people of the country.

The role of the opposition in legislature is basically to check the excesses of the ruling or dominant party, and not to be totally antagonistic. There are actions of the ruling party which may be beneficial to the masses and opposition is expected to support such steps.

In legislature the Opposition Party has a major role, which is:

  1. Constructive criticism of government.
  2. Putting restriction on arbitrariness of ruling party.
  3. Safeguarding liberty and right of people.
  4. Preparation to form government.
  5. Expression of public opinion.

Current official opposition parties

Parliament

This is the list of current opposition parties in the Parliament of India:

HousePartySeatsTotal seats
Lok Sabha INC101249
Rajya Sabha INC27111

Legislative Assemblies

This is the list of current opposition parties in the Legislative Assemblies of the Indian states and union territories:. [2]

State/UTPartySeatsTotal seats
Andhra Pradesh N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)
175
Arunachal Pradesh N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)
60
Assam Indian National Congress 26126
Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal 79243
Chhattishgarh Indian National Congress 3590
Delhi Aam Aadmi Party 2270
Goa Indian National Congress 340
Gujarat N/A

(no opposition with at least 10% seats)

-182
Haryana Indian National Congress 3090
Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party 2568
Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party 2990
Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party 2681
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party 66224
Kerala Indian National Congress 21140
Madhya Pradesh Indian National Congress 66230
Maharashtra N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)
288
Manipur N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)
60
Meghalaya All India Trinamool Congress 560
Mizoram Mizo National Front 1040
Nagaland N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)
60
Odisha Biju Janata Dal 51147
Puducherry Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 633
Punjab Indian National Congress 18117
Rajasthan Indian National Congress 69200
Sikkim N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)
32
Tamil Nadu All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 65234
Telangana Bharat Rashtra Samithi 39119
Tripura Communist Party of India (Marxist) 1060
Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party 111403
Uttarakhand Indian National Congress 1970
West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party 70294

Legislative Councils

This is the list of current opposition parties in the Legislative Councils of the Indian states:

StatePartySeatsTotal seats
Andhra Pradesh YSR Congress Party 3958
Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal 1475
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party 3575
Maharashtra Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) 1278
Telangana Bharat Rashtra Samithi 2740
Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party 10100

See also

References

  1. "16th Lok Sabha won't have leader of opposition". The Times of India. July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  2. "Legislative Bodies". legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in. Retrieved 17 January 2019.

Further reading