New Delhi: On Tuesday, former Defence Minister and veteran socialist leader George Fernandes passed away. He was suffering from swine flu for the last few days.
A veteran Parliamentarian who was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1967, Mr Fernandes served several times as a Union Cabinet Minister, holding portfolios such as communications, industry, and railways, besides defence.
He had represented Muzaffarpur and Nalanda from Bihar in Lok Sabha.
In a Tweet, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy expressed grief and said, “Very sad to hear about George Fernandes' demise. He was a very good friend in his later years. Earlier we had ideological differences due to his being socialist and I for market based economy but we were united in opposing TDK and residual Nehru family.”