Prime Minister Modi’s greatest asset is the Indian Opposition. Opposition parties are corrupt, compromised, cowardly and confused. They are too paralyzed to promote their own interests.

Mr. Sharad Pawar’s NCP is facing all kinds of corruption charges. Is that why the NCP is flattering the minority BJP government in Maharashtra? It should be watched how the government deals with corruption charges against NCP leaders. Uttar Pradesh leaders have in the past faced charges of disproportionate assets that are dismissed and revived at will. The TMC in West Bengal is embroiled in the Saradha scam. The AIADMK leader in Tamil Nadu is in jail for corruption. So is the INLD leader in Haryana. Opposition leaders undoubtedly have been corrupt. That does not justify the opposition paralysis. So have leaders of the BJP been corrupt and criminal, perhaps even more so. The political system is corrupt. It needs to be cleansed.

But at this point of time corruption is not the issue. This problem can be addressed by a government in power which introduces systemic reform. The BJP government gives no indication of doing this. Therefore the opposition should not feel vulnerable or timid but act boldly to replace this government. Right now the name of the game is power, and only power.

The largest proportion of MPs with criminal background, 31 percent, belongs to the BJP. The BJP President seems to be on never ending bail granted while he faces criminal charges in three murder cases. Innocents are dying in BJP ruled states because the government used spurious drugs purchased from a pharmaceutical company blacklisted in 2012 for adulteration. Is it likely that the government would continue purchasing medicines from this firm without money exchanging hands? Therefore opposition parties should forget the past, recognize the present, and commit themselves to the future. They must resolve to introduce systemic reform that would create a new Great India based upon justice and morality.

How might the Opposition fight back? Very simply in Maharashtra instead of appealing to the Governor for a transparent trust vote in the assembly the Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP together command an absolute majority. Why cannot these three parties unite into a single legislative block and stake their claim to form the government immediately? In Delhi if the Aam Admi Party (AAP) and Congress were to fight the forthcoming election united they would most likely win with a handsome majority. What are they waiting for? Do they not recognize the threat to their very existence and the opportunity they have to pose a genuine challenge in order to survive and thrive?

Or is it that they lack the guts to fight back? Apart from the Janata Parivar grouping in Bihar and UP no opposition party is displaying even minimum courage. What has happened to all the remaining opposition parties?