Bhubaneswar, Mar 8 : Biju Janata Dal chief and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday claimed support of 76 MLAs.

Orissa Governor M. C. Bhandare has asked Patnaik to seek a vote of confidence in a special assembly session on March 11.

"There will be a vote of confidence in the state assembly on March 11 during a special session," Patnaik told reporters here.

According to the party sources, 59 BJD MLA accompanied the Chief Minister to the Rajbhavan.

New Delhi, Mar 8 : The Samajwadi Party on Sunday declared 10 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh taking the number of its nominees to
74.

The SP has left six constituencies, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Ghaziabad, Dharora, Mathura and Kanpur for the Congress.

The Samajwadi Party earlier announced candidates for 65 constituencies, saying his party was ready to reconsider its list of already announced candidates for 65 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh if Congress comes down from its demand.

Bhubaneswar, Mar 8 : A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew its support, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is working to garner support of fringe parties and independent candidates to save its government.

The BJD has 61 MLA in the 147 members Orissa Assembly.

It now requires 13 more MLA to achieve the magic figure of 74 to remain in power.

The party was close to muster the support of 14 more MLAs from JMM, CPI and CPI-M.

The BJP, which had 32 members in the assembly, suffered a setback as two of its MLAs resigned from the party last week.

New Delhi, Mar. 8 : The CPI (M) has released its first list of 59 candidates in 16 states for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The list, which includes 17 sitting MPs, features only three women.

CPI (M) will announce the candidates for Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Lakshadweep in its second list, as seat sharing talks with allies in the states are still on.

"This is for the first time that the party is contesting from Lakshadweep," CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters after the two-day party Central Committee meeting on Sunday.

Johannesburg/Harare  - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai left hospital on Saturday one day after a road accident that left him injured and claimed the life of his wife Susan, as his supporters began questioning the cause of the crash.

Tsvangirai left hospital in Harare wearing a head bandage, and was met by supporters. Reports said that he then flew to neighbouring Botswana for rest and to come to terms with the loss of his wife.

Harare  - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister