It's a sad day for NCP: Praful Patel on Tariq Anwar's resignation

Hours after senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Tariq Anwar announced his decision to quit the party, senior NCP leader Praful Patel expressed disappointment over his resignation.

Reacting to the issue, former Civil Aviation minister Patel tweeted on Friday: "It is a sad day for us that our senior colleague (Tariq Anwar) has decided to quit Lok Sabha & also NCP. It's very surprising because he has based his decision on an interview by Sharad Pawar to news channel wherein facts are very clear on Rafale."

Anwar on Friday resigned from the NCP and as party's Member of Parliament from Katihar constituency in Bihar, in protest against the party leadership Pawar's support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the controversial Rafale deal.

Anwar, who was a close associate of Pawar, was apparently hurt by Pawar's stance on the issue and had expected a strong stand by the party leadership demanding investigation into the deal.

Besides being "hurt", Anwar had termed Pawar's statement as "unfortunate". He "disagreed" with the leadership's stand saying, "After mulling over the whole issue, I decided to quit the party as well as Parliament member. I am going to Delhi and will discuss the issue with others."

Anwar's resignation came following Pawar's reported statement to a Marathi television channel recently that "people do not have doubts" over Modi's intention. This statement was widely propagated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) including party president Amit Shah, stressing on the point that the party has support in the Opposition also over the deal.