George Fernandes wore the trappings of success lightly: Associates

When George Fernandes moved to Mumbai from Mangalore in Karnataka in the fading decade of 1940s, the only Marathi he could speak was: "Majhya sathi kaahi kaam aahe ka?" (Do you have any work for me?).

However, Fernandes, soon took to militant trade unionism, earning the moniker of 'bandh samrat' (king of shutdowns), mastered Marathi as one of the 15 languages that he could speak, and earned his spurs in 1967 by defeating SK Patil, the powerful Congressman called the "uncrowned king of Mumbai."

His associates proudly say that apart from the Shiv Sena, Fernandes was immortalised as the union leader 'Decasta' in the popular Marathi movie, 'Sinhasan' — he was then the only force capable of bringing Mumbai to a grinding halt.

Perhaps the only leader to be addressed by his first name, the boy from Mangalore who had quit a Catholic seminary, later shifted his political base to distant Bihar like his mentor, the formidable Lohia-ite, Madhu Limaye. He, however, left an indelible mark on Mumbai's social life and polity, where he had begun by sleeping on pavements and doing odd jobs. Three Socialist party corporators — Fernandes, Mrinal Gore and Shobhnath Singh, ensured in 1961 that the civic body adopted Marathi, the lingua fraca of the masses, instead of English as the official language.

"George's biggest contribution is unionising the unorganised sector of hawkers, hotel staff and taxi drivers, who were scattered across Mumbai. This was different than conventional trade unionism, where leaders could hold meetings at factory gates," said Ranga Rachure, former Maharashtra president, Janata Dal (United).

Rachure said Fernandes had once taken a taxi driver to a bank to seek a loan. "The manager did not offer the driver a chair to sit. George, who drank tea at roadside stalls with his workers even after becoming a union minister, was so upset that he catalysed the foundation of the New India Co-operative Bank (1968) for the financial inclusion of these sections," he said.

Uttam Gade, general secretary, Hind Mazdoor Kisan Sabha, said his leader, who had taken on the might of the Shiv Sena, forcing it to retreat at times, was perhaps the only politician to address the Sena chief as "Bal" instead of 'Balasaheb'. Fernandes also fought smugglers and the dreaded Mumbai underworld.

According to a former Fernandes aide, after the Janata Party regime collapsed in 1980, Fernandes came to Mumbai to attend to his BEST workers union. "We were at the Wadala depot and hungry. George asked us to have snacks in the canteen and patiently waited in the car. Later, he took us to his room near Gowalia tank and made tea on a kerosene-fired stove. He wore the trappings of power lightly," he added.

Much before social media was conceived, Mahabal Shetty, general secretary, Municipal Mazdoor Union, recalled how Fernandes, an understudy of the legendary unionist Placid D'Mello, had defeated Patil from South Mumbai, using a slogan that struck a chord with voters: "You can defeat Sa Ka Patil."

"George was fighting the Lok Sabha bypolls from Banka in Bihar. In those days, the law and order situation was very bad. George was to travel in a jeep for around 75 km at 2 am with just his driver. I asked if I should accompany him for security. He refused and told me that the day he would need security, he would quit public life," said Sunil Chitnis, executive president of Shiv Sena's municipal workers' union, and former Fernandes aide. Chitnis was nine when he heard the charismatic Fernandes speak in Pune and shifted to Mumbai in his youth to work with his idol.

Rachure, his voice choking with emotion, noted that Fernandes was an aberration in an era where politicians needed support bases in castes and regions. "He did not create narrow constituencies, which may have eclipsed him gradually," he said.

George Fernandes (3 June 1930 - 29 January 2019)

BIRTH

Born on June 3, 1930 in Mangalore, Karnataka to John Joseph Fernandes and Alice Martha  

FAMILY

Has four brothers Michael, Aloysious, Paul & Richard. Married to Leila Kabir, daughter of then Union Minister Humayun Kabir, in 1971. The couple has one son, Sean Fernandes. They divorced in 1980. Since then he had been with Jaya Jaitley

ACADEMICS

He completed his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) at St Aloysius College, Mangalore 

BOOKS PUBLISHED

• What Ails the Socialists
• Railway Strike of 1974
• George Fernandes Speaks

CAREER

• Geroge Fernandes started working at the age of 19, organising exploited workers in the road transport industry and in hotels and restaurants of Mangalore  
• He moved to Bombay in 1949 in search of a job. While working as a proofreader for a newspaper, he came in contact with veteran union leader Placid D’Mello and socialist Rammanohar Lohia, who were the greatest influences on his life
• Later, he joined the socialist trade union movement and rose to prominence as a trade unionist and fought for the rights of labourers in small scale service establishments, such as hotels and restaurants  
• He served as a member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation from 1961 to 1968  
• He won the civic elections in 1961 and until 1968, continuously raised the problems of the exploited workers with the representative body of the metropolis
• In 1967, Fernandes fought against veteran Congress leader SK Patil and won from the Bombay South parliamentary constituency  
• As president of All India Railway Men’s Federation he led the Railway strike involving 1.5 million workers in 1974, resulting in thousands being sent to jail. For several days the railways came to a standstill. There was no movement of goods or people 
• He founded his own Samata party in 1994 which was later merged into Janata Dal (United)  

CONTROVERSIES

• Tehelka.com, an online news portal, revealed how Army officers and political leaders were involved in taking bribes during arms deals. The sting showed that bribes were paid in at least 15 deals. George Fernandes’ close friend, Jaya Jaitley, was also seen speaking to Tehelka journalists. After the scam surfaced in March 2001, Fernandes quit as Defence Minister accepting moral responsibility. However, in less than eight months, he was reappointed to the same post after being cleared of any wrong-doing
• Fernandes again came under the scanner following allegations that poor quality aluminium caskets were bought from US at ‘exorbitant rates’ to transport bodies of Kargil martyrs. However, charge sheet filed by CBI in 2009 didn’t name him

TRIVIA

• His mother was a great admirer of King George V (who was also born on June 3); hence she named her first son George
• He was fluent in various languages including Tulu, Marathi, Urdu, Tamil, Malayalam, Latin, etc
• At the age of 16, he was to be trained as a Roman Catholic priest from 1946 to 1948. At the age of 19, however, he left the religious school due to sheer frustration because he was appalled with the fact that the fathers ate better food and sat at higher tables than the seminarians
• He won nine Lok Sabha elections from the year 1967
• He was underground and fought against the government during the Emergency

—Compiled by DNA-Research N Archives