Official Opposition (India)

Official Opposition designates the political party which has secured the second largest number of seats in either upper or lower houses. To get formal recognition in either upper or lower houses, the concerned party must have at least 10% of the total strength of the house.^[1] 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 single largest opposition party according to the rules of their respective houses.

Role[edit]

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:

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

Current official opposition parties[edit]

Parliament[edit]

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

House	Party	Seats	Total seats
Lok Sabha	N/A (no opposition with at least 10% of seats)	–	543
Rajya Sabha	Indian National Congress	31	245

Legislative Assemblies[edit]

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

State/UT	Party	Seats	Total seats
Andhra Pradesh	Telugu Desam Party	19	175
Arunachal Pradesh	N/A (no opposition with at least 10% seats)	–	60
Assam	Indian National Congress	26	126
Bihar	Rashtriya Janata Dal	79	243
Chhattishgarh	Indian National Congress	35	90
Delhi	Bharatiya Janata Party	8	70
Goa	Indian National Congress	3	40
Gujarat	N/A (no opposition with at least 10% seats)	-	182
Haryana	Indian National Congress	30	90
Himachal Pradesh	Bharatiya Janata Party	25	68
Jammu and Kashmir	N/A (President's rule)	–	90
Jharkhand	Bharatiya Janata Party	26	81
Karnataka	Bharatiya Janata Party	66	224
Kerala	Indian National Congress	21	140
Madhya Pradesh	Indian National Congress	66	230
Maharashtra	Indian National Congress	45	288
Manipur	N/A (no opposition with at least 10% seats)	–	60
Meghalaya	Indian National Congress	5	60
Mizoram	Mizo National Front	10	40
Nagaland	N/A (no opposition with at least 10% seats)	–	60
Odisha	Bharatiya Janata Party	21	147
Puducherry	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	6	33
Punjab	Indian National Congress	18	117
Rajasthan	Indian National Congress	69	200
Sikkim	N/A (no opposition with at least 10% seats)	–	32
Tamil Nadu	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	65	234
Telangana	Bharat Rashtra Samithi	39	119
Tripura	Tipra Motha Party	13	60
Uttar Pradesh	Samajwadi Party	111	403
Uttarakhand	Indian National Congress	19	70
West Bengal	Bharatiya Janata Party	70	294

Legislative Councils[edit]

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

State	Party	Seats	Total seats
Andhra Pradesh	Telugu Desam Party	16	58
Bihar	Rashtriya Janata Dal	14	75
Karnataka	Bharatiya Janata Party	35	75
Maharashtra	Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)	12	78
Telangana	Bharat Rashtra Samithi	27	40
Uttar Pradesh	N/A (no opposition with at least 10% seats)	–	100

References[edit]

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