Official Opposition (India)

Official Opposition is a term used in Parliament of India and State Legislatures to designate the political party which has secured the second largest number of seats in either upper or lower houses. In order 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 follows this 10% rule while the rest of them prefer single largest opposition party according to the rules of their respective houses.

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, Opposition Party has a major role, which is:

(1) Constructive criticism of government.

(2) Putting restriction of 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:

House Party Seats Total seats
Lok Sabha N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% of seats)		 – 543
Rajya Sabha INC 40 245

Legislative Assemblies

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 TDP 22 175
Arunachal Pradesh N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)		 – 60
Assam INC 24 126
Bihar RJD 81 243
Chhattishgarh BJP 14 90
Delhi BJP 8 70
Goa INC 5 40
Gujarat INC 73 182
Haryana INC 31 90
Himachal Pradesh INC 21 68
Jammu and Kashmir N/A
(President's rule)		 – 85
Jharkhand BJP 26 81
Karnataka INC 68 224
Kerala INC 2 140
Madhya Pradesh INC 92 230
Maharashtra BJP 105 288
Manipur INC 19 60
Meghalaya INC 19 60
Mizoram ZPM 7 40
Nagaland NPF 26 60
Odisha BJP 23 147
Puducherry AINRC 7 33
Punjab AAP 19 117
Rajasthan BJP 72 200
Sikkim N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)		 – 32
Tamil Nadu DMK 100 234
Telangana N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)		 – 119
Tripura CPI(M) 16 60
Uttar Pradesh SP 50 403
Uttarakhand INC 11 70
West Bengal INC 42 294

Legislative Councils

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

  State Party Seats Total seats
Andhra Pradesh TDP 27 58
Bihar N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)		 – 75
Karnataka INC 29 75
Maharashtra BJP 23 78
Telangana N/A
(no opposition with at least 10% seats)		 – 40
Uttar Pradesh SP 53 100
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See also

References
  1. "16th Lok Sabha won't have leader of opposition - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  2. "Legislative Bodies". legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
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