NEW DELHI: George Fernandes, a former Union Defence Minister in the Vajpayee government who was elected nine times to the Lok Sabha, died on Tuesday in New Delhi. He was 88.Fernandes breathed his last at Max hospital in Delhi.
Georgre Fernandes had been living with Alzheimer’s disease and his last stint was as a Rajya Sabha MP between August 2009 and July 2010.
President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to express their condolences.
PM Modi wrote that George Fernandes represented the best of India’s political leadership and he was saddened by his death.
Fernandes had served as the Defence Minister between 1998 and 2004 in the NDA government led by late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.He also served as the Union Minister of Railways and Communications during his stint as a parliamentarian.
As Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Defence Minister,George Fernandes oversaw the Pokhran nuclear tests of 1998 and the Kargil war.
Fernandes was a native of Manglore and was a key member of the Janata Dal and was the founder of the Samata Party.
Fernandes also authored three books — What Ails the Socialists, Railway Strike of 1974 and George Fernandes Speaks.
George Fernandes became a hero of the Emergency. He was made minister when the Janata Party came to power in 1977 with Morarji Desai as Prime Minister.
Fernandes later joined the Janata Dal. He served as Railways minister in V P Singh government from 1989 to 1990. He was instrumental in setting up the Konkan Railway project, which connected Mangalore and Bombay.
Fernandes formed the Samata Party. It later allied with the BJP and he soon became a close confidant of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was appointed convenor of the National Democratic Party (NDA).