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List of female opposition leaders in India

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Map representing the number of female leaders of the opposition in different states and union territories of India

The leader of the opposition is the politician who leads the official opposition in the State legislative assemblies of India and State legislative councils of India. Official Opposition[1] is a term used in legislative Assemblies to designate the political party which has secured the second largest number of seat assembly. In order to get formal recognition, the party must have at least 10% of the 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 follow this 10% rule, while the rest of them prefer the single largest opposition party according to the rules of their respective houses.

As of 13 August 2025, 13 women have served as leaders of the opposition in 9 out of 28 state assemblies and 1 out of 3 Union Territory assemblies, while only two women have served in two of the seven legislative councils. The first female leader of the opposition was Arutla Kamala Devi of Andhra Pradesh when she became leader of the opposition in the legislative assembly in February 1964. C. Motamma is the first female leader of the opposition in the state legislative council. Jamuna Devi was the longest-serving leader of the opposition, followed by Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Maharashtra and Punjab are the only two states that had three and two female leaders of the opposition, respectively. Rabri Devi is the only female leader who served as the leader of the opposition in both the legislative assembly and legislative council of her respective state Bihar. Jamuna Devi and Indira Hridayesh are the only two who died in the office.

Among these 14 women leaders of opposition in both houses, four also served as leader of the house (also Chief Minister) of their respective state. These were Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Rabri Devi, Vasundhra Raje and Atishi Marlena. While J. Jayalalithaa served as Chief Minister but not the leader of the house. Only Jayalalithaa, Rajinder Kaur and Jamuna Devi served two non-consecutive terms in state legislative assemblies, while Rabri Devi served three non-consecutive terms in the state legislative council.

Rabri Devi is the incumbent female leader of the opposition in Bihar Legislative Council. [2] Atishi Marlena is the incumbent leader of opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly.

Lok Sabha

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No. Portrait Name Constituency Tenure Lok Sabha Party.
1 Sonia Gandhi Amethi 31 October 1999 6 February 2004 4 years, 98 days 13th Indian National Congress
2 Sushma Swaraj Vidisha 21 December 2009 19 May 2014 4 years, 149 days 15th Bharatiya Janata Party

State legislature

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State legislative councils

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Map shows the number of the female leader of the opposition in Indian States legislative councils.
Key
  INC (1)   RJD (1)
No. Portrait Name

(Birth–Death)

Term of office State Political party Chief Minister Ref
Assumed office Left office Time in office
1 C. Motamma
(b. 1951) 		1 September 2010 17 June 2012 1 year, 290 days Karnataka Indian National Congress B. S. Yediyurappa & Sadananda Gowda [3]
2 Rabri Devi*
(b. 1959) 		12 May 2018 23 June 2020 2 years, 162 days Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal Nitish Kumar [4]
11 April 2022 9 August 2022
16 February 2024 Incumbent 1 year, 178 days

State legislative assemblies

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Key
  AAP (1)   AIADMK (1)   BJP (1)    CPI (1)    INC (7)   JP (1)    RJD (1)
No. Portrait Name

(Birth–Death)

Term of office State/Union territory Political party Government Ref
Assumed office Left office Time in office Chief Minister Party
1 Arutla Kamala Devi
(1920-2001) 		21 February 1964 1 March 1967 3 years, 8 days Andhra Pradesh Communist Party of India Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Indian National Congress [5]
2 Prabha Rau
(1935-2010) 		? February 1979 13 July 1979 ~5-6 months Maharashtra Indian National Congress Sharad Pawar Indian Congress (Socialist) [6]
3 Pratibha Patil
(b. 1934) 		16 July 1979 17 February 1980 216 days [7]
4 Gurbinder Kaur Brar
(1922-2013) 		29 September 1985 11 May 1987 1 year, 224 days Punjab Surjit Singh Barnala Shiromani Akali Dal [8]
5 K. S. Nagarathnamma
(1923-1993) 		29 January 1987 21 April 1989 2 years, 85 days Karnataka Ramakrishna Hegde & S. R. Bommai Janata Party [9]
6 Mrinal Gore
(1928-2012) 		23 December 1988 19 October 1989 300 days Maharashtra Janata Party Sharad Pawar Indian National Congress [10]
7 J. Jayalalithaa
(1948–2016) 		9 February 1989 1 December 1989[RES] 5 years, 280 days Tamil Nadu All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam M. Karunanidhi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam [11]
29 May 2006 14 May 2011
8 Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
(b. 1945) 		12 February 1997 10 October 1998[RES] 6 years, 253 days Punjab Indian National Congress Prakash Singh Badal Shiromani Akali Dal [12]
1 March 2007 14 March 2012 [13]
9 Jamuna Devi
(1929-2010) 		16 December 2003 11 December 2008 6 years, 259 days Madhya Pradesh Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur & Shivraj Singh Chauhan Bharatiya Janata Party [14]
7 January 2009 24 September 2010[†] Shivraj Singh Chauhan
10 Rabri Devi
(b. 1959) 		30 November 2005 24 November 2010 4 years, 359 days Bihar Rashtriya Janata Dal Nitish Kumar Janata Dal (United) [15]
11 Vasundhara Raje
(b. 1953) 		2 January 2009 20 February 2013 4 years, 49 days Rajasthan Bhartiya Janata Party Ashok Gehlot Indian National Congress [16]
12 Indira Hridayesh
(1941-2021) 		27 March 2017 13 June 2021[†] 4 years, 78 days Uttarakhand Indian National Congress Trivendra Singh Rawat & Tirath Singh Rawat Bhartiya Janata Party [17]
13 Atishi Marlena*
(b. 1981) 		23 February 2025 Incumbent 171 days National Capital Territory of Delhi Aam Aadmi Party Rekha Gupta [18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bihar-ex-cm-and-rjd-leader-rabri-devi-appointed-leader-of-opposition-in-state-legislative-council/articleshow/111883715.cms
  3. ^ "Motamma may step down as leader of opposition in Karnataka, SR Patil to take over | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 5 March 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ Lok Sabha Members – Prabha Rau Profile Archived 3 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Lok Sabha
  7. ^ Ritu Singh (2007). President Pratibha Patil: India's First Woman President. Rajpal & Sons. p. 52. ISBN 978-81-7028-705-6.
  8. ^ "Ex-CM Brar's wife dies at 85". The Tribune. Chandigarh. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  9. ^ "KS Nagarthnama the first woman speaker of Karnataka assembly".
  10. ^ "PM condoles Gore's death". The Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  11. ^ "PURATCHI THALAIVI JAYALALITHAA". The Times of India. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Bhattal questions her removal", The Indian Express, 28 November 1998, retrieved 11 July 2011
  13. ^ "Bhattal elected leader of CLP", The Hindu, 12 March 2007, retrieved 11 July 2011
  14. ^ MP Leader of Oppn Jamuna Devi dies at 80
  15. ^ [3]
  16. ^ "Profile on Rajasthan Assembly website". Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Secretariat, Jaipur (Rajasthan) India. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Indira Hridayesh will be Opposition leader in Uttarakhand Assembly". The Economic Times. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  18. ^ https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/delhi/atishi-chosen-as-leader-of-opposition-in-delhi-assembly/
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