Gujarat votes amid deep religious divide

By Rupam Jain Nair

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - With a religious divide openly on show, voters in Gujarat cast their ballots on Sunday in an election that will decide the fate of a controversial leader and may influence the timing of national polls.

Amid tight security, voters poured into election stations in districts which were at the eye of 2002 communal riots and which swept chief minister Narendra Modi and his pro-Hindu message to power in their aftermath.

Exit polls carried out by leading television channels predicted a victory for Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, forecasting they would bag around 100 seats to 80-odd for the rival Congress party.

None of the polls had Congress ahead.

"Modi will hold on. The situation is very tight but he could get the majority," said NDTV's election analyst, Dorab Sopariwala. Turnout was around 63 percent.

Gujarat, one of India's richest and fastest growing states but also one of its most communally divided, is being closely watched as a barometer of the fortunes of the country's two main parties ahead of national elections.

They are due by mid-2009 but could come earlier with the Congress-led ruling coalition in New Delhi wobbling under pressure from key communist allies who oppose a nuclear energy deal with the United States.

The religious polarisation which affects large parts of Gujarat was plain for all to see as votes were cast.