Former Defence Minister George Fernandes, long-time socialist and a trade unionist, who fought the Congress all his life died on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. He was 88.
Fernandes, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, has been out of the public eye and has been bed-ridden for more than eight years, family sources said.
He had a cold and cough and was taken to the Max Hospital in Saket by his wife, Leila Fernandes, earlier in the day,
Let us tell you that George Fernandes was the head of the All India Railwayman Federation in 1974 when he had a historic railway strike, which shook the government. He was MP four times from Bihar's Muzaffarpur constituency. George won from Muzaffarpur in the Lok Sabha elections held in 1980. He served in VP Singh's government for a few years as Railway Minister.
The NDA was formed at that time when the Vajpayee government came to power in the elections of 1998. Presently George Fernandes worked as the convener of the NDA. He became the defense minister both times in the government of NDA. When he was in the defense minister's post, Pakistan attacked India, after which the Kargil war had taken place. The Indian army had then sacked the Pakistani army during Operation Victory.
