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 of Aam Aadmi Party.

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.

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.

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 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 Leader of opposition

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List of Leader of Opposition

Before Independence (1937-1947)

Template:Small	Name Template:Small	Portrait	Tenure		Party		Assembly
Before Independence
1	Gopi Chand Bhargava Template:Small	File:Gopi Chand Bhargava.png	5 April 1937	1940	rowspan=2 bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Indian National Congress	1st
2	Bhim Sen Sachar Template:Small	File:Bhim Sen Sachar.png	1940	5 February 1945
-	Vacant Template:Small		5 February 1945	21 March 1946		-	-
3	Iftikhar Hussain Khan Template:Small	File:Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Nawab Iftikhar Hussain Khan Mamdot (cropped).png	21 March 1946	2 March 1947	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	All-India Muslim League	2nd
-	Vacant Template:Small		2 March 1947	15 August 1947		-	-

After Independence (Punjab, Haryana and Himachal) (1947-1966)

Template:Small	Name Template:Small	Portrait	Tenure		Party		Assembly
-	Vacant Template:Small		15 August 1947	17 April 1952		-	Interim Assembly
1	Gopal Singh khalsa Template:Small	N/A	17 April 1952	11 April 1956	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Shiromani Akali Dal	1st
-	Vacant Template:Small		11 April 1956	9 April 1957		-
2	Baldev Prakash Template:Small		9 April 1957	11 March 1962		Bharatiya Jana Sangh	2nd
3	Gurnam Singh Template:Small	File:Justice Gurnam Singh (cropped).jpg	11 March 1962	5 July 1966	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Shiromani Akali Dal	3rd
-	Vacant Template:Small		5 July 1966	1 November 1966		-

Since 1966 (Punjab)

Template:Small	Name Template:Small	Portrait	Tenure		Party		Assembly
Template:Small	Gurnam Singh Template:Small	File:Justice Gurnam Singh (cropped).jpg	1 November 1966	8 March 1967	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Shiromani Akali Dal	3rd
4	Gian Singh Rarewala Template:Small	File:Gian Singh Rarewala ex CM.png	9 March 1967	24 November 1967	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Indian National Congress	4th
Template:Small	Gurnam Singh Template:Small	File:Justice Gurnam Singh (cropped).jpg	24 November 1967	23 August 1968		Akali Dal - Sant Fateh Singh
-	Vacant Template:Small		23 August 1968	17 February 1969		-	-
5	Major Harinder Singh Template:Small	File:Major Harinder Singh.png	17 February 1969	14 June 1971	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Indian National Congress	5th
-	Vacant Template:Small		14 June 1971	16 March 1972		-	-
6	Jaswinder Singh Brar Template:Small	File:Jaswinder Singh Brar.png	16 March 1972	2 October 1972	rowspan=2 bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Shiromani Akali Dal	6th
7	Prakash Singh Badal Template:Small	File:Parkash Singh Badal3.png	2 October 1972	30 April 1977
-	Vacant Template:Small		30 April 1977	19 June 1977		-	-
8	Balram Jakhar Template:Small	File:Dr Balram Jakhar.jpg	19 June 1977	17 February 1980	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Indian National Congress	7th
-	Vacant Template:Small		17 February 1980	7 June 1980		-	-
Template:Small	Prakash Singh Badal Template:Small	File:Parkash Singh Badal3.png	7 June 1980	7 October 1983	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Shiromani Akali Dal	8th
-	Vacant Template:Small		7 October 1983	29 September 1985		-	-
9	Gurbinder Kaur Brar Template:Small	File:Gurbinder Kaur Brar Official portrait 1980.jpg	29 September 1985	11 May 1987	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Indian National Congress	9th
-	Vacant Template:Small		11 May 1987	25 February 1992		-	-
10	Satnam Singh Kainth Template:Small	File:Satnam Singh Kainth Official Portrait 1998.jpg	25 February 1992	12 February 1997	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Bahujan Samaj Party	10th
11	Rajinder Kaur Bhattal Template:Small	File:Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.jpg	12 February 1997	10 October 1998	rowspan=2 bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Indian National Congress	11th
12	Chaudhary Jagjit Singh Template:Small	File:The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh received by the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on his arrival at the Amritsar Airport, on December 19, 2006 (cropped).jpg	10 October 1998	26 February 2002
Template:Small	Prakash Singh Badal Template:Small	File:Parkash Singh Badal3.png	26 February 2002	1 March 2007	bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Shiromani Akali Dal	12th
Template:Small	Rajinder Kaur Bhattal Template:Small	File:Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.jpg	1 March 2007	14 March 2012	rowspan=3 bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Indian National Congress	13th
13	Sunil Kumar Jakhar Template:Small		14 March 2012	11 December 2015	14th
14	Charanjit Singh Channi Template:Small		11 December 2015	11 November 2016
-	Vacant Template:Small		11 November 2016	16 March 2017			-
15	Harvinder Singh Phoolka Template:Small	File:H. S. Phoolka.jpg	16 March 2017	9 July 2017	rowspan=3 bgcolor="Template:Party color"|	Aam Aadmi Party	15th
16	Sukhpal Singh Khaira Template:Small		9 July 2017	26 July 2018
17	Harpal Singh Cheema Template:Small		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