List of leaders of the opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly

The Leader of the opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the official leader of principal opposition party in assembly. The leader of opposition is given rank of cabinet minister and is entitled to draw monthly salary and other perks of the same rank.

History
The Andhra State, a precursor to the modern state of Andhra Pradesh, was established on 1 October 1953, following the Andhra movement. The formation of Andhra State was made possible by the Andhra State Act, which was passed in the Parliament of India in September 1953. This significant development was ignited by a determined fast led by Potti Sreeramulu, whose sacrifice ultimately catalyzed the demand for a new linguistic state.

The newly created Andhra State included 11 districts in the Telugu-speaking region of the Madras State, with Kurnool as its capital and a unicameral parliamentary system with a Legislative Assembly chamber. The Andhra Pradesh, colloquially referred to as United Andhra Pradesh, was officially established on 1 November 1956, through the enactment of the States Reorganisation Act in August 1956. This led to the dissolution of Hyderabad State, with its divisions becoming part of Mysore State and Bombay State. Concurrently, the integration of Telugu-speaking regions into Andhra State laid the foundation for the vibrant state of Andhra Pradesh with a bicameral parliamentary system consisting of Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly chambers.

Originally situated in Hyderabad, the capital later moved to Amaravati in 2017 following the implementation of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, which led to the formation of Telangana on 2 June 2014 and a reduction in the assembly constituencies from 294 to 175. Despite these significant boundary changes, the state continued to be recognised as Andhra Pradesh.

After the state reorganisation in 2014, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of YSR Congress party became the first leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly followed by N. Chandrababu Naidu of Telugu Desam Party from 2019 to 2024.

N. Chandrababu Naidu is the longest serving leader of opposition. He served as leader of opposition from 2004 to 2014, making him the last leader of opposition before the state bifurcation.

Eligibility
Official opposition is a term used in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly to designate the political party which has secured the second largest number of seats in the assembly. In order to get formal recognition, the party must have at least 25 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 follows this 10% rule while the rest of them prefer single largest opposition party according to the rules of their respective houses. But according to section 12B of payment of salaries, allowances, prevention of disqualification of MLA's in AP legislative assembly act, 10% of MLA's not required to be recognised as Leader of opposition or official opposition party. The opposition party having a greater number of MLA's is recognised as official opposition or principal opposition party and the MLA's elect their leader is Leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly.

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.