George Fernandes
George Fernandes is a trade union activist, former defence minister in the NDA Government and currently the President of Samata Party, a key alliance partner of Bharatiya Janata Party. He is an elected Member of Parliament from the
Nalanda parliamentary constituency in Bihar.
George Fernandes was born in the year 1930, in the coastal town of
Mangalore, now part of
Karnataka. After his formal education in Mangalore, his father sent him to seminary near
Bangalore, to undergo training in priesthood. The rigours of priesthood did not suit young George and he rebelled against the authorities of the seminary. He was warned and subsequently expelled from the seminary. Whether he was thrown out of home or he voluntarily left for
Bombay (now
Mumbai) is not clearly known.
George Fernandes had to endure innumerable hardships during his stay in Mumbai. Nevertheless, he soon rose to prominence as a trade unionist and fought pitched battles against hotel owners, mill owners for the rights of labourers. Although this made him extremely popular among the working classes, he had to face the wrath of hotel and mill owners.
The pivotal moment that thrust Fernandes in to limelight was his decision to stand for the 1967 general elections. He was offered a party ticket by the
Samyukta Socialist Party against the political heavyweight Sadashiv Kanoji Patil in Mumbai. Sadashiv Kanoji Patil or S.K.Patil as he was popularly known, was a seasoned politician, with two decades of experience behind him. Everyone expected S.K.Patil to romp home with absolute majority against George Fernandes. But to the utter surprise of political pundits, Fernandes convincing won against S.K.Patil by garnering 48.5% of the votes polled in the election. Incidentally, the shock defeat ended S.K.Patil's political career.
The reigning Prime Minister of India, Smt.
Indira Gandhi declared a
state of emergency in June 1975. Accordingly, all rights and duties enjoined in the Indian Constitution were suspended. Political dissidents, newspaper reporters, opposition leaders who opposed emergency were jailed. George Fernandes, along with like-minded leaders, opposed this blatant misuse of power. A warrant was issued in Fernandes' name and subsequently he went underground to escape arrest and prosecution. He was once detained on charges, of smuggling dynamite to blow up government establishments in protest against the state of emergency, in what came to be known as Baroda Dynamite conspiracy case.
After the emergency was lifted, general elections were held in India. The Congress Party, led by Smt. Indira Gandhi suffered a resounding defeat at the hands of the Janata Dal coalition. The Janata Dal and its allies came to power, headed by Sri.
Morarji Desai. George Fernandes was appointed as the Union Minister for Industries.
First Tenure
George Fernandes' first ministerial tenure was marred by controversies and allegations. He clashed with multinationals like
IBM and
Coca Cola and ordered them to leave the Indian shores. This was seen as a major impediment in India's economic scenario as
MNCs hesitated to invest in India. It was not until the Congress Government, headed by
P.V.Narasimha Rao that the MNCs made a beeline towards India.
Second Tenure
George Fernandes' second tenure as Minister of Railways in the
V.P. Singh's government, though shortlived, was quite eventful. He was brainchild behind the
Konkan Railway project, connecting coastal Karnataka with Mumbai. The
Konkan Railway reduced time travel between Udupi, Mangalore and Mumbai and facilitated easy movement of goods and services.
Konkan Railway has been hailed as a technological marvel has contributed to the economical growth in coastal Karnataka.
Third Tenure
George Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the
Samata Party in 1994. He formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, headed by Shri
Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The alliance consisting of 24-parties, named as National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won a slender majority in the election. Fernandes was named as the Minister for Communications in the 13-day ministry.
Due to the collapse of the NDA Government, polls were held and NDA returned back with a slender, but manageable majority. The government barely lasted a few months, due to the shenanigans of AIADMK leader Ms.
Jayalalitha. George Fernandes was the Defence Minister and it was during this period the
Kargil war over
Kashmir broke out between India and Pakistan. The Kargil war ended with a thumping victory and international goodwill for India. But Fernandes' role and the inability of the Indian intelligence and military agencies to detect infiltration came in for criticism, both by the opposition as well as the media.
Relationship with the Armed Forces
George Fernandes always shared an excellent rapport with the armed forces. He became the first Defence Minister in independent India to visit the unforgiving, treacherous, icy heights of the 6,600m
Siachen glacier, "the world's highest battlefield" in Jammu and Kashmir. He subsequently visited the glacier 17 more times and took necessay steps to lessen the burden on soldiers patrolling the glaciers.
He was dragged into the infamous coffin scam and his reputation as
Mr. Clean took a beating. He was also involved in skirmishes with the Navy Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat over promotion issues in the Indian navy. Bhagwat was subsequently sacked over the issue.
Controversies have dogged George Fernandes ever since he entered politics. During emergency he was implicated in the infamous Baroda Dynamite Case. As a Minister for Industries, he ordered IBM and Coca Cola to pack their bags. His tenure as a Defence Minister was a controversial one. A staunch supporter of nuclear non-proliferation, George Fernandes did a volte-face and openly endorsed the NDA Government's decision to test nuclear and hydrogen bombs in
Pokharan,
Rajasthan. He openly branded China as
India's enemy No. 1 and criticised Chinese policy of providing sophisticated weapons to Pakistan. His remarks against China were seen as unwarranted by most political observers as it hightened the tension between the two mutually mistrusting neighbours. He also has rapped the Chinese for strengthening their military across the Himalayas in Tibet.
Support to Secessionist Groups
George Fernandes has openely supported and endorsed secessionist movements and groups, irrespective of whether he was a Union Minister or a member of the Opposition. Notable among the secessionist groups supported by him include The
Liberation of Tamil Tigers Ealam (now designated as a terrorist group), the Tibetian refugees, fighting for freedom against China and the Burmese students group, fighting against the military regime in
Myanmar.
Tehelka Scandal
George Fernandes' name figured prominently in the infamous Tehelka scandal in which a group of reporters, armed with hidden cameras, from the investigative journal, Tehelka, posing as representatives of a fictitious arms company, bribed the Bharatiya Janata Party President, Bangaru Laxman, a defence officer and Jaya Jaitley, General Secretary of Samata Party and a close confidante of George Fernandes.
The scandal caused uproar all over India and Fernandes was forced to resign from his post as a Defence Minister. He was subsequently cleared by the one man commission headed by retired Justice Phukan. The Phukan Committee Report was rejected by the UPA Government headed by the Congress and a new committee headed by Justice K Venkataswami was appointed. The Committee, after lenghty investigation, absolved Fernandes in the case.
Though not a prolific writer, George Fernandes has penned couple of books on politics including books like "What Ails the Socialists", "Railway Strike of 1974" and his autobiography titled "George Fernandes." He is also the editor of an English monthly, "The Other side" and the Chairman on the editorial board of a Hindi monthly "Pratipaksh."
The NDA Government lost power to the Congress-led UPA last year. Since then, Fernandes has not been in the media limelight and makes sporadic appearances in television. His detractors allege that Fernandes is locked in a bitter anti-party rivarly with his one-time friend, Bihar Chief Minister,
Nitish Kumar over the leadership of the Samatha Party.
1) http://siafdu.tripod.com/fernandes.html
2) http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/apr/02espec1.htm
3)http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1998/981130/fernandes1.html
4) http://in.rediff.com/news/defscan.htm - Complete coverage on the Tehelka scandal.
