Parliamentarian Tariq Anwar quits NCP
Resignation comes a day after party’s move to defend Modi over Rafale deal
PATNA: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) parliamentarian Tariq Anwar on Friday resigned from the party and also as a Lok Sabha Member shortly after the party chief Sharad Pawar had defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal.
Anwar who was one of the three founding member of the NCP represents Katihar seat from Bihar in the Lok Sabha. He has not revealed about his next move but it looks like he is headed for the Congress the party he was associated with for long before joining the NCP.
“I have been deeply hurt by the statements of Mr Pawar wherein he has sought to give ‘clean chit’ to the Prime Minister while everyone knows that the latter is completely involved in the controversial deal. Hence, it was difficult for me to stay with the party,” Anwar told the media at Katihar town in Bihar on Friday.
He alleged the Prime Minister was completely involved in the controversial deal and was yet to prove his innocence in the matter. “The statement by the former France President confirms the big scam in the Rafale deal,” Anwar said.
He said the aircraft deal is mired in controversy and the entire opposition is seeking for a detailed probe into the matter. “It’s really strange how a Prime Minister tried to help an individual in the deal. This is very serious but the NCP chief’s statements appear giving a clean chit to the PM. Hence I am resigning from the party and also a member from the Parliament,” Anwar added.
The resignation comes barely a day after NCP chief Pawar had come to the defence of Modi saying he thinks people don’t have doubts about PM’s intensions.
“I don’t think people have doubts about Modi’s intentions personally,” Pawar had said in an interview to a Marathi news channel on Thursday. He also described as “nonsense” as opposition’s demand to share technical details relating to fights jets.
Strangely, the Congress has been seeking for a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) or Supreme Court-monitored inquiry into the controversial deal.
Anwar, along with Sharad Pawar and PA Sangma, had in 1999 broken away from the Congress to protest against the anointment of a ‘foreign origin person’ — Sonia Gandhi as the party president and floated NCP. With Sangma not more and Anwar quitting the party, the NCP really looks in deep trouble now.