Former NCP leader Tariq Anwar met Rahul Gandhi and formally joined Congress on Saturday, October 27.

Earlier, Nationalist Congress Party leader Tariq Anwar had resigned from the party and from the Lok Sabha.

Anwar has reportedly resigned from the party in protest against party president Sharad Pawar's statement defending Prime Minister Modi in the Rafael deal.

Anwar was a Lok Sabha MP from Katihar in Bihar. He was a prominent face of the NCP and a Muslim leader in Bihar. He was also the general secretary of the NCP.

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.