Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passes away

January 29, 2019 09:20

Former Defence Minister in the Vajpayee government George Fernandes passed away today, at the age of 88.

Fernandes, who served as the Defence Minister in the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpyee between 1998 and 2004, was crippled by Alzheimer's disease, and his last stint as a Parliamentarian was as a Rajya Sabha MP between August 2009 to July 2010.

A native of Mangaluru, Fernandes is the founder of the Samata Party. He rose to fame as an anti-Emergency crusader and civil rights activists and served as a Union Minister in the Janata Party government headed by Morarji Desai that came to power in 1977 to 1980.

Fernandes stepped down as the Defence Minister in 2004 after the "coffingate" scandal broke out. He was later absolved by two commissions of inquiry.

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