Tariq Anwar may return to Congress

Senior politician Tariq Anwar's resignation from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday has triggered talks that he might return to his parent party, the Congress, almost 19 years after he, along with Sharad Pawar and PA Sangma, had raised the banner of revolt against the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on grounds of her foreign origins.

Senior leaders of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) including its recently appointed president Madan Mohan Jha said the party will welcome him if he wants to return to the fold. Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said they were eagerly waiting to see what Anwar's next move will be.

Anwar started his political career with the Congress and served it in various capacities including AICC member, NSUI, Youth Congress and Bihar Congress unit acting president before leaving the party. A source within the Congress said he had held talks with senior party leaders in Delhi and might be testing the waters for his return.

Anwar may also receive a grand welcome in the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad Yadav, with whom he shares cordial relations.

Anwar, on Friday, had resigned from the primary membership of the party and even quit as Lok Sabha member, "aggrieved by Pawar's statement shielding PM Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal".

"Leaving a party where I have spent almost two decades of my life and which has given me a lot of respect was a difficult decision. Pawar Saheb has given me much importance on every occasion for which I will always be grateful to him," Anwar told Zee News on Saturday.

He added, "However, there is a nationwide movement against Rafale and the entire Opposition is united. With regard to that, Pawar Ji's statement had come… I had expected a contradiction but that did not happen for the next 24 hours and within the time BJP President Amit Shah welcomed it… Later, a contradiction was issued but that was too late for me."

Anwar, a third-generation politician from his family, is a five-term Lok Sabha MP and two-term Rajya Sabha MP. He represented the Katihar seat in Lok Sabha and was the only NCP MP from Bihar.

Anwar's addition to the Mahagathbandhan camp, either in Congress or in RJD, is likely to strengthen their hold of minority voters in the state as he holds considerable sway in the region and sources said the major reason behind him quitting the NCP was the Pawar's statement in favour of the BJP would not go down well with his voters in Katihar, a minority dominated constituency.