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	37	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, BJP	22	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

References

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

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[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.