More splits in India's Congress party

The Congress party of India has suffered another setback ahead of the forthcoming general election.

Its former leader in the northern state of Bihar, Jagannath Mishra -- has launched a new party ,Bihar Jan Morcha -- Bihar People's forum.Many other senior figures have left Congress in recent weeks.

Two of them, P.

Kumarmangalam and Aslam Sher Khan, a Muslim, have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party -- and BJP leaders are due to meet the former Congress leader from West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, to discuss a possible alliance.

Another Muslim leader, Din Muhammad, has also joined the BJP.A BBC correspondent in Delhi says these developments have boosted the confidence of the BJP which wants to broaden its appeal by including more non-Hindus and women in its fold.

Three Muslim parties -- the Muslim League, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Mulimeen and the All India Muslim Majlis --launched a combined Democratic Front today (Milli Jamhoori Mahaz)to contest the election.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service