India, Nov. 2 -- In a contemporary democratic system, the opposition party is the runner-up in an election, waiting for an opportunity to defeat the winners and seize executive power. In India, the world's largest democracy, all political parties share a single primary objective: to capture, consolidate, and retain state power. Politicians switch parties not because of moral decadence in the party, but because they crave power.

Political parties have one ultimate priority: winning elections; they forget that they are instruments of public stewardship, watchdogs of democracy, and defenders of citizens' fundamental rights. In India today, it is worth asking whether the opposition effectively defends the Constitution's values and corrects ...