Naveen Patnaik needs 74, has 75

After the BJP withdrew support to the Orissa government on Saturday, governor MC Bhandare on Sunday asked chief minister Naveen Patnaik to prove his majority in the House on March 11. “We will prove it,” Naveen said on Sunday. 

The BJP withdrew support after Naveen declared that seat-sharing talks between the two had failed. Soon after, BJP MLAs rushed to the Governor’s House to submit the support withdrawal letter.

On Saturday night, the BJD brought all its MLAs to Bhubaneswar to present them before the governor. It contacted NCP chief Sharad Pawar to get the party’s support. NCP MLA Arun Dey said, “On the party chief’s direction, we’ve decided to support the Naveen government.”

The BJD needs 74 members to be in power. The CM has the support of 75 MLAs (BJD-59, JMM-4, CPI-1, CPI(M)-1, NCP-2, Independent-7 and BJP-1).