The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has faced a dismal loss in both elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Parliament, results for which were announced on June 4. The party led by former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy secured a meagre 11 seats against the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance’s thumping majority of 162 seats in the 175 member Assembly.
The YSRCP’s prospects are so bleak that it is doubtful whether it will be given the status of principal opposition party. In praxis, barring the minimal impact that Left parties and other smaller parties have on Andhra’s political landscape, the YSRCP will continue to be the major opposition against the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance. However, official opposition status in the Assembly is a different ball game.
Any party has to secure at least 10% of the seats (18 seats in Andhra's case) to qualify as the official opposition and name a leader of opposition in the state legislature.
Take a look at what took place in Gujarat following the 2022 Assembly elections: The BJP won 156 seats in the 182-seat Assembly, leaving the Congress, who secured 17 seats, with no official opposition status in the legislature.
As PRS Legislative Research’s civic and legislative head Chakshu Roy told TNM, “Legislative functioning depends not only on the written rules of procedure but also on precedent and convention. The position of the leader of opposition is critical. It is in recognition of this that laws have been made to give the leader of opposition more status and also a position in selection committees of key offices.”
However, if Chandrababu Naidu, his Telugu Desam Party and the Assembly Speaker are in agreement, YSRCP can still name a leader of opposition from within the party.
The role of leader of opposition isn’t alien to Jagan. He essayed the role in 2014 when YSRCP won 67 seats after the division of Andhra Pradesh. In divided Andhra’s first Assembly session, Jagan mocked the then chief minister Naidu for “widening his eyes and scaring people”, before going on to speak about farmers’ rights. His speech was resoundingly aided with laughter and praise by several of his party members.
On Saturday, June 8, outgoing Animal Husbandry minister Seediri Appalaraju, who lost from Palasa constituency in Srikakulam district, said that YSRCP would play the role of a constructive opposition. But whether they can do so as the official principal opposition party in the state Assembly is yet to be known.