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NEW DELHI, Monday (AFP) India's main opposition Congress was jolted when two senior leaders quit the party on the eve a no-confidence vote it has tabled in parliament against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's government.

Former federal ministers Vasant Sathe and N.K.P. Salve from the western state of Maharashtra also announced they would be forming a regional party, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said.

The new party will promote the division of Maharashtra into two provinces to promote the development of the neglected Vidarbha region, Sathe said. "Salve and I were pained to take the decision but have resorted to it as there was no alternative before us as our efforts to persuade the Congress leadership to agree to the just demand of carving a separate Vidarbha out of Maharashtra had failed to yield results," Sathe said.

Maharashtra is one of 14 of India's 28 states ruled by the Congress party. The new group will align with any party which supports its demand for the separate Vidarbha state, Sathe said. Neither Sathe nor Salve are members of parliament so their departure will not impact the voting.

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