Congress names Tariq Anwar as candidate for Bihar legislative council polls

In a surprise move, the Congress on Wednesday night announced that former Union minister and veteran leader Tariq Anwar will be its candidate for the biennial elections to the legislative council in Bihar.

A statement to this effect was issued by AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, less than 24 hours before the process of filing nominations would come to a close on Thursday.

A multiple-term MP from Katihar Lok Sabha constituency, Anwar had headed the party''s state unit in the 1980s but parted ways a decade later when he founded the Nationalist Congress Party along with Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar and P A Sangma from Meghalaya.

He served as a member of the council of ministers in the Manmohan Singh government from the NCP quota but quit the party a couple of years ago when media reports quoted Pawar, the NCP national president, as having defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Rafale deal.

Notwithstanding Pawar''s denial, Anwar returned to the Congress and was fielded from Katihar in the Lok Sabha polls last year. He, however, lost to a less-fancied candidate of the JD(U) by a margin of over 50,000 votes.