Consider the following statements:
- 1.In the first Lok Sabha, the single largest party in the opposition was the Swatantra Party.
- 2.In the Lok Sabha, a "Leader of the Opposition" was recognised for the first time in 1969.
- 3.In the Lok Sabha, if a party does not have a minimum of 75 members, its leader cannot be recognised as the Leader of the Opposition.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 only
Only the 1969 statement stands. The Communist Party of India, with 16 seats, was the largest opposition party in the first Lok Sabha, and the threshold for recognising a party (and so its leader) is one-tenth of the House, not 75 members.
- ✗ 1. In the first general election (1951–52) the CPI won 16 seats and became the largest opposition party. The Swatantra Party did not yet exist; it was founded in 1959.
- ✓ 2. Until 1969 the opposition had no formally recognised leader in the Lok Sabha. After the Congress split, Ram Subhag Singh of the Congress (O) was recognised in December 1969; the post got statutory backing in 1977.
- ✗ 3. The Speaker's Direction 121 requires a party to have at least the quorum strength, i.e. one-tenth of the House's members (about 55), not 75.
Remember · Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha: first recognised 1969 (Ram Subhag Singh); statutory since the 1977 Act; party needs one-tenth of the House (about 55 members).
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 2 “In the first general election, CPI won 16 seats and emerged as the largest opposition party.”
- Directions by the Speaker under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (Direction 121), Lok Sabha Secretariat ↗ “shall have at least a strength equal to the quorum fixed to constitute a sitting of the House, that is one-tenth of the total number of members of the House.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·