New Delhi, Mar 8 : The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), on Sunday expressed its support to the Naveen Patnaik ministry in Orissa, which recently broke down its 11-year-old alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"The MLAs of Nationalist Congress Party in Orissa will support the BJD Government headed by Patnaik," NCP spokesperson D P Tripathi said in a statement.

Pawar claims to have a majority in the 147-member Bhubaneshwar assembly with the support of more than 74 MLAs.

He has said both parties would also contest the assembly and parliamentary elections in the state jointly.

He said he had asked party leaders and Union Minister Praful Patel to hold talks with the ruling party in Orissa in this regard. (ANI)