Ahmedabad, India - A state election that was supposed to be about India's booming economy has turned into a war of words over Hindu-Muslim divisions, riots and extra-judicial killings.
The western state of Gujarat, one of India's most developed and also one of its most communally divided, votes on Tuesday and Sunday in a two-stage poll that is being closely watched for clues about the fortunes of the country's two main parties.
It started out as a referendum on development, with the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) boasting that it had brought industrial growth and rural prosperity, and Congress trying to attract those who have missed the train.
But the gloves came off when Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, who heads the ruling national coalition in New Delhi, called the BJP government of chief minister Narendra Modi "merchants of death" at a rally last week.
Modi is accused of turning a blind eye to or actively encouraging Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 in which between 1,200 and 2,500 people were killed, most of them Muslims.
He swept the elections held later that year on an overtly communal campaign where he played on fears about Muslim terrorists and styled himself as the protector of Hindus.
In the past week he has returned to his hardline Hindu nationalist agenda.
Ironically, neither side had wanted to summon the ghosts of 2002 -- Congress because it was scared of alienating the majority Hindu community, Modi because he wanted to portray a more positive image and, perhaps, launch a national career.
But it is Modi who is most likely to benefit from the change in tone, analysts say, at least within the state.
"Religion always comes to the rescue of politicians in India," said Achyut Yagnik, a social scientist in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's commercial capital.
"Modi is at his best when he talks pro-Hindu. It is his ticket to connect with people and win votes."
AFRAID TO WOUND?
Modi landed in trouble last week when he reportedly justified the extra-judicial killing of a suspected Muslim criminal, a killing which his government has already admitted came about during a staged gunbattle.
The independent election commission asked him to explain himself for what seemed to be a violation of its code of conduct, an apparent attempt to foster communal divisions.
Modi turned the tables by saying he was only responding to Gandhi's "merchants of death" label, and now both remarks are under investigation.
Modi has tried to turn the controversy to his advantage.
"Hindus please vote for me," he has begun asking crowds at election rallies. "I promise to fight against terrorism and make you safer each day."
The vitriol is enlivening his campaign and may help him, analysts say.
"Food, water, jobs, electricity and roads make an election bland," said Anil Gupta, a professor at Ahmedabad's Indian Institute of Management. "Religion adds the spice to it."
Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar wrote in the Sunday Times that Gandhi's accusations were accurate.
"But since so many Gujarati voters view these very merchants of death as extra-judicial protectors of Hindus, the accusation may work to Modi's advantage. Just as it did in the last election." (Editing by Y.P. Rajesh and Simon Denyer)