India's Agriculture Minister resigns

The Indian Agriculture Minister, Nitish Kumar, has resigned.

Mr Kumar cited internal differences within his Samata Party -- one of the parties in the coalition government -- as the reason behind his decision.

Earlier, Mr Kumar had proposed that his Samata Party should merge with another party from the eastern state of Bihar, the Janata Dal United.

If merged, the two would have formed the largest bloc in the Bihar state legislature.

But the suggestion was met with fierce opposition and correspondents say there is a risk of a split within the Samata Party on the issue. The party's parliamentary leader, the defence minister, George Fernandes, played down talk of a party rift saying Mr Kumar's resignation was an internal Samata party matter.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service