New BJP president

India's main governing party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has for the first time chosen a lower caste Hindu and a southerner to become its new head.

He's Bangaru Laxman, a junior minister for railways in the cabinet, and he will take over from the BJP's current president, Kushabhau Thakre.

BJP officials say they hope his appointment will help expand the party's political base beyond northern India and send out a message to the public that the BJP is not just for high-caste Hindus.

Mr Laxman is also considered a moderate, and a BBC correspondent in Delhi says one his main tasks will be to mend strained relations between the BJP and its hardline allies.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service