 He was made Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1962 by Kushabhau Thakre when Jana Sangh won 41 MLAs to the 288-seat assembly.In 1967, Govind Narayan Singh an Indian National Congress candidate along with Vijayaraje Scindia rebelled against Dwarka Prasad Mishra and formed a new political party known as the Lok Sewak Dal and became the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh as the leader of a coalition, known as the Samyukta Vidhayak Dal which included Jana Sangh also.Sakhlecha was named the Deputy Chief Minister of the state from 30 July 1967 to 12 March 1969.