With elections to be held late this year or early next year, the young Gandhi's political career depends on his performance over the next few months, said Trivellore I. Raghunathan, a statistics graduate student who grew up in India

Raghunathan said that he hopes both parties go to the negotiating table But, he added. Gandhi is unlikely to be able to overcome his emotional hatred of the Sikh extremists.

He said that he expects the Indian people will support negotiations, of Gandhi can avoid the appearance of having given in to terrorists.

But S. Rajasekaran, an Indian graduate student in the applied science and the Indian people will be angry at the Sikhs. He said that negotiations will be unpopular.

If Gandhi cannot win the elections, Raghunathan said, a coalition government may be formed by a number of small parties. He said that this could lead to a factional, in-fighting government such as ruled the country from 1977 to 1980. "The future looks very bad," he added.

Rajasekaran said that the majority party, known as the Indira Congress, could win the elections, but that it is unlikely the unpopular Gandhi would become Prime Minister. He added that Gandhi is inexperienced in politics and has little popular support.

The Sikhs were originally a non-violent sees formed in about 1500 in an attempt to reconcile Hinduism and Islam. Currently, there is strife in India between all three groups.

The Sikhs, though a small minority of the Indian population, live mostly in the northwestern Punjab province where they hold a slight majority. They currently demand political autonomy for the Punjab and a greater role in the Indian government