---
title: "Indians Dissatisfied with Direction of Country"
description: "Indians are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country today, and they would prefer the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party to lead the next Indian government, rather than the current governing coalition led by the left-of-center Indian National Congress party."
date: "2014-02-27"
authors:
  - name: "No Author"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2014/02/27/indians-dissatisfied-with-direction-of-country/"
---

# Indians Dissatisfied with Direction of Country

*By Bruce Stokes, Director of Global Economic Attitudes, Pew Research Center* Special to *[CNN](http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/27/indians-dissatisfied-with-direction-of-country/)*[* *](http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/01/06/killer_elite#sthash.IjIgK5gA.dpbs) Nations periodically have “change” elections. The outcome of the 1980 U.S. presidential contest, in which Ronald Reagan trounced then President Jimmy Carter, was attributable to many factors. But at the end of the day, Americans just wanted a change. India may be heading for a similar such election when the public goes to the polls later this spring to elect a new parliament and government. A new [survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2014/02/26/indians-want-political-change/) by the Pew Research Center finds that seven-in-ten Indians are dissatisfied with the way things are going in their country today. And, by a margin of more than three-to-one, they would prefer the right-of-center, Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to lead the next Indian government, rather than the current governing coalition led by the left-of-center Indian National Congress party. Read more at [*CNN's Global Public Square blog*](http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/27/indians-dissatisfied-with-direction-of-country/)