India's Opposition party leader killed in plane crash

A private plane carrying eight passengers, including opposition Congress party leader Madhavrao Scindia, crashed today in northern India, police said.

He was also the Congress party’s deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, or lower house of parliament, in New Delhi.

The small plane crashed in Mainpur district, nearly 190 miles southeast of New Delhi, in heavy rain, police said.

Scindia was on his way to address a Congress party rally in Uttar Pradesh state, where assembly elections are scheduled to be held early next year.

The United News of India news agency said the plane carried eight people and an unspecified number of crew members.