caption children birth_place nationality birth_date spouse signature image article_title name
george fernandes in 2002 1 son mangalore india , south canara , madras presidency of british indian 3 june 1930 leila kabir george fernandes autograph.jpg george fernandes -lrb- cropped -rrb- . jpg george fernandes
 george fernandes
george fernandes

george mathew fernandes -lrb- born 3 june 1930 -rrb- is a former indian trade unionist , politician , journalist , agriculturist , and member of `` rajya sabha '' from bihar .
he was a key member of the janata dal , and is the founder of the samata party .
he has held several ministerial portfolios including communications , industry , railways , and defence , and was the only christian minister in prime minister atal bihari vajpayee 's cabinet .
a native of mangalore , fernandes was sent to bangalore in 1946 to be trained as a priest .
in 1949 he moved to bombay , where he joined the socialist trade union movement .
becoming a fiery trade union leader , fernandes organised many strikes and `` bandhs '' in bombay in the 1950s and 1960s .
the most notable agitation he organised was the 1974 railway strike , when he was president of the all india railwaymen 's federation .
fernandes went underground during the emergency era of 1975 , while challenging prime minister indira gandhi for imposing a state of emergency , but in 1976 he was arrested and tried in the infamous baroda dynamite case .
in 1977 , after the emergency had been lifted , fernandez won the muzaffarpur seat in bihar and was appointed as union minister for industries .
during his tenure as union minister , he ordered american multinationals ibm and coca cola to leave the country , due to investment violations .
he was the driving force behind the konkan railway project during his tenure as railway minister from 1989 to 1990 .
he was a defence minister in the national democratic alliance -lrb- nda -rrb- government -lrb- 1998 -- 2004 -rrb- , when the kargil war broke out between india and pakistan , and india conducted its nuclear tests at pokhran .
a veteran socialist , fernandes has been dogged by various controversies , including the barak missile scandal and the tehelka affair .
