Anwar has been appointed both general secretary in charge of poll-bound Kerala and a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

[8] In May 1999, Anwar along with other leaders of the INC, Sharad Pawar and P. A. Sangma, rebelled against a foreign-origin Sonia Gandhi being chosen as the party's Prime Minister-candidate ahead of the general election.

In an open letter, they questioned her "experience and understanding of public life" in being able to rule a country "with a population of 980 million".

[11][12] During the time, he served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, representing Maharashtra.

[13] In September 2018, he resigned from the NCP over colleague Pawar's clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale deal controversy, and re-joined the INC the following month.