List of leaders of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly

The Leader of the Opposition is the politician who leads the official opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. Incumbent Leader of opposition is Harpal Singh Cheema[1] of Aam Aadmi Party.

Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Harpal Singh Cheema
(Aam Aadmi Party)
since 27 July 2018
NominatorMembers of Official Opposition
AppointerSpeaker of Punjab assembly
Term length5 years
No renewable limit
Inaugural holderGopi Chand Bhargava
Formation6 April 1937; 83 years, 295 days ago
DeputySaravjit Kaur Manuke (since 16 March 2017) (Aam Aadmi Party)

Official Opposition

Official Opposition[2] 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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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.

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly

Color Keys for the Party of Leader of opposition

No. Name
(constituency)		 Portrait Tenure Party Assembly
Before Independence
1 Gopi Chand Bhargava
(Lahore City)		 1937 1940 INC 1st
2 Bhim Sen Sachar
(N-W Town)		 1940 1945
- Vacant
(assembly under dissolution)		 1945 1946 - -
3 Iftikhar Hussain Khan
(Ferozpur General)		 1946 1947 AIML 2nd
After Independence
- Vacant
(no opposition in assembly)		 15 August 1947 17 April 1952 - Interim Assembly
1 Gopal Singh khalsa
(Jagraon)		 N/A 17 April 1952 1 November 1956 SAD 1st
- Vacant
(all opposition members joined the government)		 1 November 1956 9 April 1957 -
Vacant
(no official opposition in assembly)		 9 April 1957 11 March 1962 2nd
2 Gurnam Singh
(Raikot)		 11 March 1962 5 July 1966 SAD 3rd
- Vacant
(state under President's rule)		 5 July 1966 1 November 1966 -
(2) Gurnam Singh
(Raikot)		 1 November 1966 8 March 1967 SAD
3 Gian Singh Rarewala
(Payal)		 9 March 1967 24 November 1967 INC 4th
(2) Gurnam Singh
(Qila Raipur)		 24 November 1967 23 August 1968 AD-SF
- Vacant
(state under President's rule)		 23 August 1968 17 February 1969 - -
4 Major Harinder Singh
(Ajnala)		 17 February 1969 14 June 1971 INC 5th
- Vacant
(state under President's rule)		 14 June 1971 16 March 1972 - -
5 Jaswinder Singh Brar
(Kotkapura)		 16 March 1972 2 October 1972 SAD 6th
6 Prakash Singh Badal
(Gidderbaha)		 2 October 1972 30 April 1977
- Vacant
(state under President's rule)		 30 April 1977 19 June 1977 - -
7 Balram Jakhar
(Abohar)		 19 June 1977 17 February 1980 INC 7th
- Vacant
(state under President's rule)		 17 February 1980 7 June 1980 - -
(6) Prakash Singh Badal
(Gidderbaha)		 7 June 1980 7 October 1983 SAD 8th
- Vacant
(state under President's rule)		 7 October 1983 29 September 1985 - -
8 Gurbinder Kaur Brar
(Muktsar)		 N/A 29 September 1985 11 May 1987 INC 9th
- Vacant
(state under President's rule)		 11 May 1987 25 February 1992 - -
9 Satnam Singh Kainth
(Phillaur)		 N/A 25 February 1992 12 February 1997 BSP 10th
10 Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
(Lehra)		 12 February 1997 10 October 1998 INC 11th
11 Chaudhary Jagjit Singh
(Kartarpur)		 10 October 1998 26 February 2002
(6) Prakash Singh Badal
(Lambi)		 26 February 2002 1 March 2007 SAD 12th
(10) Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
(Lehra)		 1 March 2007 14 March 2012 INC 13th
12 Sunil Kumar Jakhar
(Abohar)		 14 March 2012 11 December 2015 14th
13 Charanjit Singh Channi
(Chamkaur Sahib)		 11 December 2015 11 November 2016
- Vacant
(all opposition members resigned against SYL canal issue)		 11 November 2016 16 March 2017 -
14 Harvinder Singh Phoolka
(Dakha)		 16 March 2017 9 July 2017 AAP 15th
15 Sukhpal Singh Khaira
(Bholath)		 9 July 2017 26 July 2018
16 Harpal Singh Cheema
(Dirba)		 27 July 2018 Incumbent

Living Former Leader of opposition
Name Birth Tenure
Parkash Singh Badal 8 December 1927 1972-1977,
1980-1983 &
2002-2007
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal 3 September 1945 1997-1998 &
2007-2012
Sunil Kumar Jakhar 9 February 1954 2012-2015
Charanjit Singh Channi 2 April 1973 2015-2016
Harvinder Singh Phoolka 23 August 1955 2017
Sukhpal Singh Khaira 13 January 1965 2017-2018

References
  1. AAP removes Khaira and appoints Harpal Cheema as leader of opposition
  2. "Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977". Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  3. Salary and Allowances of Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Act 1978
  4. Role of Leader of Opposition in India
  5. Role of Opposition in Parliament of India
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.