List of leaders of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly

Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Legislative Assembly
Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Legislative Assembly
	Incumbent; Partap Singh Bajwa; (Indian National Congress); since 9 April 2022
Nominator	Members of Official Opposition
Appointer	Speaker of Punjab assembly
Term length	5 years ; No renewable limit
Inaugural holder	Gopi Chand Bhargava
Formation	6 April 1937; 87 years, 13 days ago
Deputy	Vacant; (since 15 March 2024)

The Leader of the Opposition is the politician who leads the official opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly.

Official Opposition

Official Opposition^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.

Color keys

Color keys for the party of leaders of the opposition

List of leaders of the opposition

Before independence (1937-1947)

No.	Name (constituency)	Tenure			Assembly
Before independence
1	Gopi Chand Bhargava (Lahore City)	5 April 1937	1940	Indian National Congress	1st
2	Bhim Sen Sachar (N-W Town)	1940	5 February 1945	Indian National Congress	1st
-	Vacant (assembly under dissolution)	5 February 1945	21 March 1946	-	-
3	Iftikhar Hussain Khan (Ferozpur General)	21 March 1946	2 March 1947	All-India Muslim League	2nd
-	Vacant (assembly under dissolution)	2 March 1947	15 August 1947	-	-

After independence

(Punjab, Haryana and Himachal) (1947–1966)
No.	Name (constituency)	Portrait	Tenure		Party		Assembly
-	Vacant (no opposition in assembly)		15 August 1947	17 April 1952		-	Interim Assembly
1	Gopal Singh khalsa (Jagraon)		17 April 1952	11 April 1956		Shiromani Akali Dal	1st
-	Vacant (all opposition members joined the government)		11 April 1956	9 April 1957		-	1st
2	Baldev Prakash (Amritsar City East)	N/A	9 April 1957	11 March 1962		Bharatiya Jana Sangh	2nd
3	Gurnam Singh (Raikot)		11 March 1962	5 July 1966		Shiromani Akali Dal	3rd
-	Vacant (state under President's rule)		5 July 1966	1 November 1966			3rd
Since 1966 (Punjab)
(3)	Gurnam Singh (Raikot)		1 November 1966	8 March 1967		Shiromani Akali Dal	3rd
4	Gian Singh Rarewala (Payal)		9 March 1967	24 November 1967		Indian National Congress	4th
(3)	Gurnam Singh (Qila Raipur)		24 November 1967	23 August 1968		Akali Dal - Sant Fateh Singh	4th
-	Vacant (state under President's rule)		23 August 1968	17 February 1969		-	-
5	Major Harinder Singh (Ajnala)		17 February 1969	14 June 1971		Indian National Congress	5th
-	Vacant (state under President's rule)		14 June 1971	16 March 1972		-	-
6	Jaswinder Singh Brar (Kotkapura)		16 March 1972	2 October 1972		Shiromani Akali Dal	6th
7	Prakash Singh Badal (Gidderbaha)		2 October 1972	30 April 1977		Shiromani Akali Dal	6th
-	Vacant (state under President's rule)		30 April 1977	19 June 1977		-	-
8	Balram Jakhar (Abohar)		19 June 1977	17 February 1980		Indian National Congress	7th
-	Vacant (state under President's rule)		17 February 1980	7 June 1980		-	-
(7)	Prakash Singh Badal (Gidderbaha)		7 June 1980	7 October 1983		Shiromani Akali Dal	8th
-	Vacant (state under President's rule)		7 October 1983	29 September 1985		-	-
9	Gurbinder Kaur Brar (Muktsar)		29 September 1985	11 May 1987		Indian National Congress	9th
-	Vacant (state under President's rule)		11 May 1987	25 February 1992		-	-
10	Satnam Singh Kainth (Phillaur)		25 February 1992	12 February 1997		Bahujan Samaj Party	10th
11	Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Lehra)		12 February 1997	10 October 1998		Indian National Congress	11th
12	Chaudhary Jagjit Singh (Kartarpur)		10 October 1998	26 February 2002		Indian National Congress	11th
(7)	Prakash Singh Badal (Lambi)		26 February 2002	1 March 2007		Shiromani Akali Dal	12th
(11)	Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Lehra)		1 March 2007	14 March 2012		Indian National Congress	13th
13	Sunil Kumar Jakhar (Abohar)		14 March 2012	11 December 2015			14th
14	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		-
15	Harvinder Singh Phoolka (Dakha)		16 March 2017	9 July 2017		Aam Aadmi Party	15th
16	Sukhpal Singh Khaira (Bholath)		9 July 2017	26 July 2018
17	Harpal Singh Cheema (Dirba)		27 July 2018	16 March 2022
18	Partap Singh Bajwa (Quadian)		9 April 2022	Incumbent		Indian National Congress	16th