[1]Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has ruled out the possibility of his party, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), lending support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre.
Patnaik said there are rumours about him meeting the Congress leaders which are false and baseless.
"I understand there have been certain stories here, some baseless rumours of meeting Congress leaders. All those rumours are incorrect. They are false and baseless," he said.
The Central government faced the suspense of being in the minority after Trinamool Congress (TMC) a key coalition partner withdrew its support and its ministers tendered their resignations on Friday.
The TMC took this step while objecting to the government's decision to allow FDI in the huge multi-brand retail market of the country on September 14.
After Trinamool Congress's withdrawal of support, the UPA government's support in Lok Sabha has come down from 273 to 254 leaving the coalition heavily dependent on Samajwadi Party (22) and BSP (21) for its majority in the House.
For a simple majority, the Manmohan Singh -led government needs the support of at least 273 MPs in a House of 545.
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