B

oredom, frustration and distrust are among the main reasons why India'€™s 814 million voters will likely punish the Congress Party and give a strong mandate to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party of opposition, so it can make good on its promise to fix hyper inflation, unemployment and deal with the worsening appetite of foreign investors to do business in the world'€™s largest democracy.

Nationalist sentiment has become one of the BJP'€™s strong points in convincing voters to give the party a chance to rule the nation for the next five years. The fear that the party would be less tolerant of minority groups like Muslims has barely impacted on voters, whose major concerns are an improved economy and a stronger India on the international stage.

Indians feel bored with the Congress Party because the dynasty-based party has ruled the country since 2004 on a strong economic platform to provide heavily subsidized food to the poor. Indians are frustrated by rampant unemployment, declining foreign direct investment, a stagnant economy and corruption involving the party'€™s elite and government officials.

Foreign investors resent bureaucratic hurdles and noisy labor unions that they say are demanding too much from companies. For many multinational companies, Indian democracy has often become a stumbling block to business.

Several opinion polls predict BJP leader Narendra Modi will become the next prime minister of India because the party and its smaller allies will likely win 275 out of 543 parliamentary seats in the Lok Sabha '€” the lower house of the Indian parliament.

Modi'€™s most powerful attraction for voters is his track record as the leader of the tiny but prosperous Gujarat State.

Like Indonesia'€™s ruling Democratic Party, which lost more than half of its legislative seats in the April 9 election, the much older Congress Party is facing severe losses in the current Indian election. The official vote count will be on May 16.

One of the basic questions raised among developing nations is whether democracy is a fundamental foundation for development or an obstacle?

India'€™s democracy is much older than Indonesia'€™s, but many Indonesians have started to doubt the role of democracy in their lives. For them, democracy is tiring.

The Indian journey shows that despite its pains, democracy is one of the most important assets in nation building.

If Modi'€™s predicted victory becomes reality, it will be part of the nation'€™s journey toward a much better India.