Tariq Anwar joins Congress after quitting NCP over Sharad Pawar's 'defence' for PM Modi on Rafale deal

Tariq Anwar joins Congress: Anwar along with his supporters met Gandhi at his Tughlaq Lane residence and was welcomed into the party fold.

Tariq Anwar along with his supporters met Gandhi at his Tughlaq Lane residence and was welcomed into the party fold. The move came after Anwar resigned from the party in protest against party president Sharad Pawar over his statement defending Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale deal. Pawar was quoted in the media as having given a clean chit to Modi on the deal.

New Delhi: Nearly a month after leaving Nationalist Congress Party, Tariq Anwar on Saturday joined the Congress after meeting its chief Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi. The move came after Anwar resigned from the party in protest against party president Sharad Pawar over his statement defending Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale deal. Pawar was quoted in the media as having given a clean chit to Modi on the deal. News agency ANI reported, Anwar along with his supporters met Gandhi at his Tughlaq Lane residence and was welcomed into the party fold. Through Twitter, Congress informed, "Congress President Rahul Gandhi welcomes Shri Tariq Anwar into the Congress family." The former MP from Katihar Lok Sabha constituency would make a formal announcement of his joining the Congress party later in the day.

Congress President @RahulGandhi welcomes Shri @itariqanwar into the Congress family. pic.twitter.com/N54VkAQpJJ

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 27, 2018

Anwar was the Lok Sabha MP from Katihar in Bihar and was considered to be close to Pawar. Defending PM Modi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had stated that people do not have doubts over PM’s intentions and in protest against party president’s statement, Anwar resigned. Objecting to Pawar's remark, NCP general secretary Munaf Hakim also quit the party. A former president of Congress's Bihar unit, Anwar formed the NCP in the 1990s along with Pawar and the late P A Sangma, opposing Sonia Gandhi taking over as AICC president on grounds of her foreign origin. The party thereafter allied with the Congress at the national level and also in Maharashtra.