Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passes away

Born on June 3, 1930, George Fernandes not only served India as a defence minister but was also an Indian trade unionist, politician,  journalist, agriculturist and member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar.

Saima Siddiqui
Published on: 29 Jan 2019 4:12 AM GMT
Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passes away
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Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passes away

New Delhi: Former defence minister and anti-Emergency battler George Mathew Fernandes passed away, on Tuesday at the age of 88.

The brave Indian soldier's minister, Fernandes bade good-bye to this world at 7 a.m while fighting the deadly Swine flu infection, he was also withdrawn from public life over the past decade due to Alzheimer's, according to sources.

Fernandes, served as the defence minister between 1998 and 2004, in the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpyee. His last term as a parliamentarian was as Rajya Sabha MP between August 2009 and July 2010.

On his demise many political leaders condoled his death on social media:

PM Narendra Modi showed his grief by sharing his contribution towards the nation:

While, Bihar Cheif Minister Nitish Kumar tweeted,

Born on June 3, 1930, George Fernandes not only served India as a defence minister but was also an Indian trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist and member of Rajya Sabha from Bihar.

He was a key member of the Janata Dal Party, headed by Morarji Desai and was the founder of the Samata Party.

Fernandes rose to fame as an anti-Emergency crusader and challenged the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for imposing a state of emergency, but in 1976 he was arrested and tried in the infamous Baroda dynamite case.

Saima Siddiqui

Saima Siddiqui

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