Abu Dhabi ( CNN ) -- A great deal has been said about the five week long election underway in India . The world 's largest democracy . 814 million people going to the polls . A candidate representing a family dynasty versus a firebrand chief minister . But this race will likely boil down to three simple numbers that impact every citizen in the country : growth , inflation and interest rates . To be blunt , they do not favor the incumbent Congress party which has ruled for the last decade . What 's at stake ? Economic growth came in at only 4.5 % in the last fiscal year , the worst performance in a decade . We are awaiting the final tally for last year , but bets are it will be below 5 % . Consumer inflation for February came in at a 25-month low of 8.1 % , but that is incredibly high when the rest of the world is trying to fight off deflation , not the rising cost of food . With prices soaring over the past year , the relatively new but high profile central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan was forced to raise interest rates three times since last September . The repo rate for the Reserve Bank of India stood at 8 % as Indians began their journey to the polls . Whether it is on the campaign trail in the U.S. , Europe or Asia , pocketbook issues dominate . By the numbers : The world 's biggest exercise in democracy . It is widely viewed in the Indian business community that the competent , but aging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lost his zeal for reform and that Rahul Gandhi committed too late in the game to express a desire to lead in a party which has run out of ideas to jumpstart growth . Prior to the global banking crisis India was humming along , with growth of over 9 % for a handful of years . You probably remember when comparisons were being made about the two towers of the emerging markets , China and India . A state-run apparatus stacked up against the sprawling democratic structure of India , with chief ministers of states controlling so much power . In the Congress party era , names like Tata and Infosys came to the fore . We understood the vibrancy and productivity of Bollywood . And we are well aware of the rising middle class in India . But this is an election where one should keep an eye two core voting blocks : the youth and those in the vast rural lands . 11 things to know about the world 's biggest election . India is a young country . Nearly half are under the age of 26 . Despite the wealth creation in the past decade , about 850 million Indians live outside major cities and remain dependent on farming . According to a poll by Pew Research ahead of the vote , both these blocks favor the BJP party by a margin of 3 to 1 . They think Chief Minister Narenda Modi is better positioned to cut bureaucracy , tackle corruption and revive growth . They were probably were led to that position by the three numbers that have clearly undermined support for the Congress party . More from John Defterios : Why the world is watching the Fragile Five . Emerging markets split into tortoises and hares : Which will win 2014 ?
John Defterios says India 's arms race will come down to the economy . He says the Indian business community thinks PM Singh lost his zeal for reform . Whether it is in the US , Europe or Asia , economic issues dominate , he writes .