The leader of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly is the politician who leads the official opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The leader of the opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically seen as an alternative prime minister, premier, first minister, or chief minister to the incumbent; in the Westminster system, they head a rival alternative government known as the shadow cabinet or opposition front bench. The same term is also used to refer to the leader of the largest political party that is not in government in subnational state, provincial, and other regional and local legislatures. The incumbent leader of the opposition in the Punjab assembly is Partap Singh Bajwa of Indian National Congress, while Aruna Chaudhary is his deputy.
Official Opposition Official Opposition is a term used in Punjab Legislative Assembly to designate the political party which has secured the second largest number of seats Punjab assembly. In order to get formal recognition, the party must have at least 10% of 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 follows this 10% rule while the rest of them prefer single largest opposition party according to the rules of their respective houses. Punjab Legislative Assembly appointed the member of the second largest party as Leader of opposition.Salary and Allowances of Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Act 1978
Role The Opposition's main role is to question the government of the day and hold them accountable to the public. 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.Role of Leader of Opposition in India
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.Role of Opposition in Parliament of India
In legislature, Opposition Party has a major role and must act to discourage the party in power from acting against the interests of the country and the common man. They are expected to alert the population and the Government on the content of any Bill, which is not in the best interests of the country. History After Independence Till now, 18 people served as leaders of the opposition in the Punjab assembly. Gopal Singh Khalsa was the first leader of the opposition in the first Punjab assembly as in the Interim assembly, there was no opposition as all non-Congress members who were elected in the 1946 election joined Congress after the partition.Electoral politics in Punjab. (Pdf) P. 36-37. Retrieved 16 December 2021. He was also the first Dalit who became the leader of the opposition. The other Dalit leaders of the opposition in Punjab were Jagjit Singh, Satnam Singh Kainth and Charanjit Singh Channi. Out of 18, Prakash Singh Badal and Gurnam Singh served thrice, while Rajinder Kaur Bhattal served twice, and all others served only once. Gurbinder Kaur Brar was the first female leader of the opposition in the Punjab assembly, and the other was Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Prakash Singh Badal was the longest-serving leader of the opposition, while Harvinder Singh Phoolka served the shortest. Balram Jakhar and Sunil Kumar Jakhar was the father-son duo served the post.
Gurnam Singh, Parkash Singh Badal, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Charanjit Singh Channi also served as the Leader of the House.
There were a total of 11 occasions when the post remained vacant. Out of these, 3 occasions were when opposition was not present in the assembly, while other 8 occasions were when assembly was either under suspension or dissolved due to various reasons. In former case, 2 out of 3 times, opposition members actually joined the government under some agreements and in the remaining 1 case, opposition resingned from the assembly because of Supreme Court of India's decision on Sutlej Yamuna link canal issue.
Color keys Color keys for the party of leaders of the opposition
Other keys
List of leaders of the opposition Before independence (1937–1947) S.No.PortraitNameTenurePartyElectionGovernmentTook officeLeft officePremierParty1Gopi Chand Bhargava5 April 19371940Indian National Congress1937Sikandar Hayat Khan
Malik Khizar Hayat TiwanaUnionist Party2 Sardar Sampuran Singh19401942Shiromani Akali Dal3Bhim Sen Sachar19425 February 1945Indian National Congress –Vacant5 February 194521 March 1946-4Iftikhar Hussain Khan21 March 19462 March 1947All-India Muslim League1946Malik Khizar Hayat TiwanaUnionist Party –Vacant2 March 194715 August 1947-
After independence (since 1947) S.No.PortraitNameTenurePartyElection(Assembly)GovernmentTook officeLeft officeDurationChief MinisterParty –Vacant15 August 194720 June 1951 –1946(Interim)Gopi Chand Bhargava
Bhim Sen SacharIndian National Congress –Vacant (President's rule)20 June 195117 April 1952-1Gopal Singh Khalsa17 April 195211 April 1956Shiromani Akali Dal1952(First)Bhim Sen Sachar
Partap Singh KaironIndian National Congress –Vacant11 April 19569 April 1957 –2Baldev Prakash9 April 195711 March 1962Bharatiya Jana Sangh1957(Second)Partap Singh Kairon3Gurnam Singh11 March 19625 July 1966Shiromani Akali Dal1962(Third)Partap Singh Kairon
Gopi Chand Bhargava
Ram Kishan –Vacant(President's rule)5 July 19661 November 1966 – –(3)Gurnam Singh1 November 19668 March 1967Shiromani Akali DalGiani Gurmukh Singh MusafirIndian National Congress4Gian Singh Rarewala9 March 196724 November 1967Indian National Congress1967(Fourth)Gurnam SinghAkali Dal – Sant Fateh Singh Group(3)Gurnam Singh24 November 196723 August 1968Akali Dal – Sant Fateh Singh GroupLachhman SinghPunjab Janata Party –Vacant(President's rule)23 August 196817 February 1969 –5Harinder Singh17 February 196914 June 1971Indian National Congress1969(Fifth)Gurnam Singh
Parkash Singh BadalShiromani Akali Dal –Vacant(President's rule)14 June 197116 March 1972 –6Jaswinder Singh Brar16 March 19722 October 1972Shiromani Akali Dal1972(Sixth)Zail SinghIndian National Congress7Parkash Singh Badal2 October 197230 April 1977 –Vacant(President's rule)30 April 197719 June 1977 –8Balram Jakhar19 June 197717 February 1980Indian National Congress1977(Seventh)Parkash Singh BadalShiromani Akali Dal –Vacant(President's rule)17 February 19807 June 1980 –(7)Parkash Singh Badal7 June 19807 October 1983Shiromani Akali Dal1980(Eighth)Darbara SinghIndian National Congress –Vacant(President's rule)7 October 198329 September 1985 –9Gurbinder Kaur Brar29 September 198511 May 1987Indian National Congress1985(Ninth)Surjit Singh BarnalaShiromani Akali Dal –Vacant(President's rule)11 May 198725 February 1992 –10 Satnam Singh Kainth25 February 199212 February 1997Bahujan Samaj Party1992(Tenth)Beant Singh
Harcharan Singh Brar
Rajinder Kaur BhattalIndian National Congress11Rajinder Kaur Bhattal12 February 199710 October 1998Indian National Congress1997(Eleventh)Parkash Singh BadalShiromani Akali Dal12Jagjit Singh10 October 199826 February 2002(7)Parkash Singh Badal26 February 20021 March 2007Shiromani Akali Dal2002(Twelfth)Amarinder SinghIndian National Congress(11)Rajinder Kaur Bhattal1 March 200714 March 2012Indian National Congress2007(Thirteen)Parkash Singh BadalShiromani Akali Dal13 Sunil Kumar Jakhar19 March 201211 December 20152012(Fourteen)14Charanjit Singh Channi11 December 201511 November 2016 –Vacant11 November 201616 March 2017 –15Harvinder Singh Phoolka16 March 201720 July 2017Aam Admi Party2017(Fifteen)Amarinder SinghIndian National Congress16Sukhpal Singh Khaira20 July 201726 July 201817 Harpal Singh Cheema27 July 201816 March 2022Amarinder Singh
Charanjit Singh Channi18Pratap Singh Bajwa9 April 2022IncumbentIndian National Congress2022(Sixteen)Bhagwant MannAam Admi Party
Statistics List of leader of the opposition by their tenure #Chief MinisterTotal termsPartyTerm of office Longest continuous term Total duration of leadership 1 Parkash Singh Badal 3 5 years, 3 days 12 years, 335 days 2Rajinder Kaur Bhattal25 years, 13 days6 years, 253 days 3Gurnam Singh3/ADSFG4 years, 116 days5 years, 148 days 4Satnam Singh Kainth14 years, 353 days4 years, 353 days 5Baldev Prakash14 years, 336 days4 years, 336 days 6Pratap Singh Bajwa*1*** 7Gopal Singh Khalsa13 years, 360 days3 years, 360 days 8Sunil Kumar Jakhar13 years, 267 days3 years, 267 days 9Harpal Singh Cheema13 years, 232 days3 years, 232 days 10Jagjit Singh13 years, 139 days3 years, 139 days 11Balram Jakhar12 years, 243 days2 years, 243 days 12Harinder Singh12 years, 117 days2 years, 117 days 13Gurbinder Kaur Brar11 year, 224 days1 year, 224 days 14Sukhpal Singh Khaira11 year, 6 days1 year, 6 days 15Charanjit Singh Channi1336 days336 days 16Gian Singh Rarewala1260 days260 days 17Jaswinder Singh Brar1200 days200 days 18Harvinder Singh Phoolka1126 days126 days –Vacant (No official opposition)3 –3 years, 309 days5 years, 67 days –President rule8 –4 years, 259 days9 years, 223 days
Deputy leader of the opposition
NameTenurePartyLeader of Opposition Assembly Devi Lal(Fatehabad)11 March 19625 July 1966IndependentGurnam Singh3rd1 November 19668 March 1967Rattan Singh(Garshankar)9 March 196724 November 1967Indian National CongressGian Singh Rarewala4thSardari Lal Kapoor(Ludhiana North)17 February 19691970Indian National CongressMajor Harinder Singh5thSurjit Singh Atwal(Phillaur)197014 June 1971Umrao Singh(Nakodar)19 June 197717 February 1980Indian National CongressBalram Jakhar7thNirmal Singh Nimma(Bhadaur)25 February 199212 February 1997Bahujan Samaj PartySatnam Singh Kainth10thBharat Bhushan Ashu(Ludhiana West)11 December 201511 November 2016Indian National CongressCharanjit Singh Channi14thSarvjit Kaur Manuke(Jagraon)16 March 201716 March 2022Aam Admi PartyHarvinder Singh Phoolka,Sukhpal Singh Khaira,Harpal Singh Cheema15thRaj Kumar Chabbewal (Chabbewal)9 April 202215 March 2024Indian National CongressPartap Singh Bajwa16thAruna Chaudhary(Dinanagar)3 September 2024Incumbent
See also List of current Indian opposition leaders List of female leader of the opposition in India
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