Tariq Anwar comes a full circle, returns to Congress after 19 years

New Delhi, Oct 27: Tariq Anwar, who had quit the Congress along with Sharad Pawar and PA Sangma in 1999, on Saturday returned to the grand old party. Anwar, a prominent Muslim leader from Bihar, joined Congress in presence of Rahul Gandhi.

Anwar, along with Sharad Pawar and PA Sangma, had in 1999 broken away from the grand old party to protest against the appointment of a 'foreign origin person' - Sonia Gandhi, as the Congress president. The trio had founded Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Anwar had resigned from the party in protest against NCP president Sharad Pawar's statement defending Prime Minister Modi in the Rafael deal. Anwar had blamed Pawar of weakening the voice of the united Opposition over Rafale issue.

"I was in my constituency (Katihar, Bihar) when I got a call about Sharad Pawar ji's statement. Then I saw BJP president Amit Shah's tweet welcoming Pawar ji's comments. I waited the whole night and I was confident that Pawar Saheb will issue a clarification. In the morning when I saw no statement from him I announced my decision," he told The Hindu in an interview on October 5.

Pawar, speaking to a television channel earlier this month, said that people "do not have doubts" over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intentions (in the Rafale deal). "I don't think people have doubts about Modi's intentions personally," Pawar had told the news channel.

Anwar said he was upset with Pawar's statement and resigned from NCP and also as Lok Sabha MP.

Before quitting the Congress in 1999, Anwar was a member of the Congress Working Committee and was considered close to Sitaram Kesri. Kesri was the Congress president before Sonia Gandhi took over the reins of the party. Anwar was also the state Congress president of the Bihar unit in mid 80s.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik had said Anwar's resignation will not have an impact on the party as there was no support for him. "Nobody buys the excuse which Anwar used to quit," Malik had said.

As soon as Anwar quit NCP, Congress leaders in Bihar lauded him and said if he wants to return then he would be most welcome.

Reports say that Tariq had been in touch with senior Congress leaders in New Delhi for the last several months and Congress leadership has given him an open offer to return to his original party.