Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday returned to the western Indian province of Gujarat facing a dilemma. His second and final round of campaigning was tempered by predictions that a victory for his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state assembly elections could end his own political career. To many observers, a victory for the BJP in Gujarat would mean that the party's radical Hindu elements, intent on converting India - a secular democracy with a large Muslim minority - into a die-hard Hindu nation, had finally triumphed over the moderate Mr Vajpayee. The Hindu radicals have been on the ascendant in the BJP since sectarian riots erupted on February 27 after a mob torched a train carrying Hindu pilgrims in the town of Godhra in Gujarat. In a damning report on the religious violence, an independent panel headed by retired judges indicted the state's chief minister, Narendra Modi, as 'the chief author and architect of all that happened'. But far from damaging his political career, the condemnation has propelled Mr Modi from anonymity to becoming the poster boy for Hindu radicals. Despite warnings from the Election Commission, Mr Modi and other radical Hindu leaders have been using the Muslim issue to polarise Hindu voters in favour of the BJP. Gujarat shares a long border with Pakistan, but never before has the Muslim-majority nation been the focus of any Indian party's election campaign as in the current assembly polls. Unable to directly attack Muslim voters due to election laws forbidding communal propaganda, Mr Modi uses his campaign speeches to lambaste Pakistan and its president, Pervez Musharraf. 'The day I lose, there will be celebrations in Islamabad and Karachi,' he tells his followers, even insisting that General Musharraf wants 'a Pakistan-friendly government installed in Gujarat' - a stab at Gujarat's Muslims who support the opposition Congress Party, the BJP's main challenger. But it is not just Mr Modi who has converted the Gujarat campaign into an occasion to bash Pakistan. His political mentor, hardline Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, often alludes in his campaign speeches to what he sees as the Islamic terrorist threat from Pakistan - and has even threatened war. 'Let us fight it out face to face. We have fought thrice, let there be a fourth war,' Mr Advani said. According to The Hindu, a liberal daily, Mr Advani's statement reflects 'the BJP's desperation to win the coming elections in Gujarat', due on Thursday. The party has lost a series of provincial assembly elections in recent years, and is in power now in only five states, including Gujarat, against the 16 states controlled by the Congress Party. Mr Vajpayee is usually the star at BJP election campaigns. But this time, he has made only two brief visits to Gujarat and has delivered lacklustre speeches. Observers believe the initiative lies with Mr Modi and his radical allies, as a victory in Gujarat will give them even greater prominence on the national stage. By contrast, a BJP defeat could help Mr Vajpayee regain lost political ground within his party and the government. However, a defeat in Gujarat could well seal the BJP's fate in national elections due two years from now. HIGH PRESSURE A defeat in Gujarat could seal the BJP's fate in the national elections due in October 2004 The ruling party is accused of tacitly approving sectarian riots this year The riots erupted on February 27 after a mob torched a train carrying Hindu activists in the town of Godhra