Uttar Pradesh political crisis 'over'

A political crisis in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh appears to be over after the majority of members of one of the main coalition partners agreed not to leave the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition.

The decision by the Loktantrik Congress Party to stay in the coalition was taken at an emergency meeting after the party leader Naresh Aggarwal was sacked as energy minister.

The chief minister, Rajnath Singh of the BJP, dismissed Mr Aggarwal after he blamed the BJP's policies for a serious power crisis in Uttar Pradesh.

The emergency meeting also expelled Mr Aggarwal from the party and elected Shyam Sunder Sharma as their new party leader.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service