Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress(S), and the Jan Morcha led by V. P. Singh.

Ascent to power

It first came to power in 1989, after allegations of corruption, known as the Bofors scandal, caused Rajiv Gandhi's Congress (I) to lose the elections. The National Front coalition that was formed consisted of the Janata Dal and a few smaller parties in the government, and had outside support from the Left Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party. V. P. Singh was the Prime Minister. In November 1990, this coalition collapsed, and a new government headed by Chandra Shekhar under Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) which had the support of the Congress came to power for a short while.

Its second spell of power began in 1996, when the Janata Dal-led United Front coalition came to power, with outside support from the Congress under Sitaram Kesri, choosing H. D. Deve Gowda as their Prime Minister. The Congress withdrew their support in less than a year, hoping to gain power with the support of various United Front constituent groups, and I. K. Gujral became the next Prime Minister. His government too fell in a few months, and in February 1998, the Janata Dal-led coalition lost power to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Factions

This party has had several splits. Amongst the larger splinter groups include the Rashtriya Janata Dal (which ruled the state of Bihar), Samajwadi Party (a major force in Uttar Pradesh), Biju Janata Dal (governing Orissa), Janata Dal (Secular) (which ruled the state of Karnataka) and the Janata Dal (United), (currently ruling Bihar and whose leader George Fernandes was the Defense Minister of India) and Samajwadi Janta Party (R) headed by Chandra Shekhar is the only faction having some national image. Several smaller splinter groups also exist, including Lok Janshakti Party and Janata Party.

Janata Parivar parties

Janata Dal (Secular) of V. P. Singh and I. K. Gujral led by H. D. Deve Gowda

Socialist Janata (Democratic) Party led by M. P. Veerendrakumar

Janata Dal (United) led by Sharad Yadav

Samata Party of George Fernandes now led by Brahmanand Mandal and Jaya Jaitley

Janata Party led by Subramanian Swamy

Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav

Rashtriya Janata Dal led by Laloo Prasad Yadav

Biju Janata Dal of Biju Patnaik

Rashtriya Lok Dal led by Ajit Singh

Indian National Lok Dal led by Om Prakash Chautala

Lok Janshakti Party led by Ram Vilas Paswan

Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) of Chandra Shekhar led by Kamal Morarka

Category:Political parties in India Category:Socialist parties Category:V. P. Singh administration

de:Janata Dal fr:Janata Dal mr:जनता दल ja:ジャナタ・ダル sv:Janata Dal ta:ஜனதா தளம் te:జనతా దళ్

name	Pooja Gandhi
birth name	Pooja Gandhi
birth date	October 11, 1981
birth place	paurath, punjab, India
other names	Sanjana Gandhi
occupation	Actress, model
yearsactive	2003; 2006-present }}

Pooja Gandhi (), also known as Sanjana Gandhi, is an Indian actress predominantly working in the Kannada film industry.She went on to appear in commercially successful films like mungaru male,taj mahal,buddhivanta ,thus establishing herself as a leading contemporary actress of kannada cinema

Early life

Pooja Gandhi was born in paurath, punjab, on October 07 in a traditional Punjabi family. Her father Pawan Gandhi is a businessman and her mother Jyothi Gandhi is a housewife. She studied at Sophia Convent and Dewan Public School in Meerut. She has two younger sisters, Radhika Gandhi, who is also working in Kannada films, and Suhani Gandhi, a tennis player.

Career

Pooja started her career by acting in soaps, starting with ''Zameen Se Asman'' directed by Aruna Irani. She made her debut in the Bengali film ''Tomake Salam'', released in 2003. She moved to the South Indian film industry with the Tamil film ''Kokki'', which did not show promising results at the box office.

She entered the Kannada film industry with ''Mungaru Male'', a film that became a big hit in Karnataka, and she popularly came to be known as ''Mungaru Male Hudugi'' ("Mungaru Male girl").

Pooja Gandhi acted in the Kannada movie ''Krishna'', opposite "Comedy Time" Ganesh, her co-actor in ''Mungaru Male''. She has since acted in several Kannada films including ''Kodagana Koli Nungitha'', ''Manmahta'', ''Milana'', ''Buddhivantha'', ''Huchchi'', ''Taj Mahal'' and ''Honey Honey''.

Pooja has signed up to make her Tulu language film debut in ''Beere Devupoonje'', playing the role of Raja Nartaki. The film, produced and directed by R. Dhanraj, will be based on a Tulu warrior named Devapoonja who lived 400 years ago.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable" border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" ! Year !! Film !! Role !! Language!! Notes |- | 2003 || ''Tomake Salam'' || || Bengali || |- | rowspan="2"|2006 || ''Kokki'' || Raji || Tamil || |- | ''Mungaru Male'' || Nandini || Kannada || |- | rowspan="4"|2007 || ''Manmatha'' || || Kannada || Special appearance |- | ''Krishna'' || Preethi || Kannada || |- | ''Milana'' || Priya || Kannada || |- | ''Geleya'' || Herself || Kannada || Special appearnce in song huduga malebillu |- | rowspan="11"|2008 || ''Hani Hani'' || Ramya || Kannada || |- | ''Accident'' || Pooja || Kannada || |- | ''Kamannana Makkalu'' || || Kannada || Special appearance |- | ''Nee Tata Naa Birla'' || Pooja || Kannada || |- | ''Tajmahal'' || Shruthi || Kannada || Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Kannada Actress |- | ''Kodagana Koli Nungitha'' || Lakshmi || Kannada || |- | ''Budhivanta'' || Pooja || Kannada || |- | ''Maharshi'' || Manasa Veena || Kannada || |- | ''Janumada Gelathi'' || Manjula || Kannada || |- | ''Thiruvannamalai'' || Malathy || Tamil || |- | ''Haage Summane'' || Nandini || Kannada || Special appearance |- | rowspan="6"|2009 || ''Anu'' || Anu || Kannada || |- | ''Thalai Ezhuthu'' || || Tamil || |- | ''Iniya'' || Janaki || Kannada || |- | ''Huchchi'' || Preethi || Kannada || |- | ''Ninagaagi Kaadiruve'' || Shweta Nandan || Kannada || |- | ''Gokula'' || Leela || Kannada || |- | rowspan="4"|2010 || ''Minugu'' || Sanchitha || Kannada || |- | ''Shri Harikathe'' || Pooja Krishnamurthy || Kannada || |- | ''Nee Raani Naa Maharani'' || Rani,Pooja Gandhi || Kannada || |- | ''Vega'' || || Kannada || |- | rowspan="8"|2011 || ''Thavarina Runa'' || || Kannada || |- | ''Aptha'' || Anjali Devi || Kannada || |- | ''Nee Illadhe'' || Sharanya || Kannada || |- | ''I Am'' || || Hindi || Post-production |- | ''Jaihind'' || Anjali || Kannada || Filming |- | ''Hare Rama Hare Krishna'' || || Kannada || Filming |- | ''Kalayanamasthu'' || || Kannada || Filming |- | ''Paagal'' || || Kannada || Filming |- | ''Jogayya''|| || Kannada || Filming }

References

External links

Official website

Category:Indian actors Category:Indian film actors Category:Kannada film actors Category:Tamil film actors Category:Indian female models Category:Living people Category:Bengali people Category:1984 births

kn:ಪೂಜಾ ಗಾಂಧಿ

name	Lalu Prasad Yadav
birth date	June 11, 1947
birth place	Gopalganj, Bihar)
residence	Patna
office	Ex Minister of Railways Government of India MP-Lok Sabha
constituency	Saran
party	RJD
religion	Hinduism
spouse	Rabri Devi
children	2 sons and 7 daughters
Date	September 25 |
year	2006 |
source	Lok Sabha members' biodata }}

Lalu Prasad Yadav (Devanāgarī: लालू प्रसाद यादव) is an Indian politician from Bihar. He was the Minister of Railways from 2004 to 2009 in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, and the President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal political party. He is a Member of Parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha from the Saran constituency in Bihar.

He entered politics during his student days at Patna University, and he was elected a member of the Lok Sabha in 1977 as a Janata party candidate. At the age of 29 he was one of its youngest members of Parliament.

He is famous for his charismatic leadership and mass appeal, and has been criticized for caste-based politics. and the corruption cases against him.

Yadav served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from 1990 till 1997, when he resigned following escalating corruption charges in the Fodder Scam. From 1997 to 2005, with brief interruptions, his wife Rabri Devi was the Chief Minister. Her political opponents often accused her as having served as his "surrogate."

Biography

Lalu Prasad Yadav was born in Phulwaria, in the Gopalganj district of Bihar. His father's name was Kalu Prasad Yadav and his mother's name, Marchi Devi. He is a lawyer by education. He holds Bachelor's degree in Law (LLB) and a Masters in Political Science from B. N. College, Patna, Patna University. He turned down Patna University's Honorary Doctorate in 2004. Lalu Prasad Yadav had his schooling, from 1st standard to 7th standard, at Bihar Military Police No-5 middle school.

Yadav married Rabri Devi on June 1, 1973. They have two sons and seven daughters.

Political career

Lalu Prasad Yadav entered politics as General Secretary of the Patna University Students' Union in 1970. He led the student movement inspired by Jai Prakash Narayan, Raj Narain, Karpoori Thakur and Satyendra Narayan Sinha. The former Chief Minister of Bihar and the then President of Bihar State Janata Party, Satyendra Narayan Sinha supported him as a candidate for the Lok Sabha and campaigned for him. He was elected as a member of the 9th Lok Sabha on a Janata Party ticket at the age 29, becoming one of the youngest members of the Indian Parliament at the time.

In a span of 10 years, Yadav became a formidable force in Bihar State Politics. During the Indian general elections in 1989 and state assembly elections, he successfully led the National Front coalition in Bihar. It was, therefore, no surprise that he was elected the Chief Minister leaving behind Ram Sundar Das, a former chief minister from the same party, when it came to power in the 1990 Assembly elections. The World Bank lauded his party for its work in the 1990s on the economic front.

A report was published by the BBC news in 1996 according to which the police unearthed a Rs. 1950 crore (US$ 267 Million), Fodder Scam in Bihar, which allegedly involved Yadav and the State's leading bureaucrats and politicians, albeit the probe itself was ordered by him. He claimed it to be an Opposition conspiracy to stop his political growth. The fodder scam forced Yadav to resign from the office of Chief Minister and he made his wife, Rabri Devi, his successor as the state's Chief Minister.

Rashtriya Janata Dal

Yadav formed the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in 1997, after breaking away from the Janata Dal. According to Limca Book of Records, he is the longest serving president of an Indian Political Party. He remained in power in Bihar for more than one and a half decades. In November 2005 elections, his party, the RJD, could win just 54 seats, which put his party in third place, after the Janata Dal United (JDU) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Nitish Kumar led coalition, consisting of JD(U) and BJP, came to power.

Tenure as a Union Minister

Yadav was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Chhapra and Madhepura seats of Bihar. He was able to defeat the high profile BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy from Chhapra and the JD(U) president Sharad Yadav from Madhepura. He became the railway minister in the UPA Government. Later, he gave up the Madhepura seat.

Yadav banned plastic cups from being used to serve tea at railway stations and ordered that they be replaced by ''kulhar''s (earthen cups), to generate more employment in rural areas. Later, he also said that he had plans to introduce buttermilk and khādī. In June 2004, he announced that he would get on the railway himself to inspect its problems and went on to board the Patna railway station at midnight.

When he took over, the Indian Railways was a loss-making organization. In the 4 years under his leadership, it made a cumulative total profit of Rs. 25,000 crores (US $5.2 billion).

He left passenger fares untouched and found several other profitable sources of revenue for the Railways. He also improved on his first year's performance by stating a profit of 14,000 crores with decreased freight and unchanged passenger fares in 2006. Then, in the 2007 budget, he increased the profit level to 20,000 crores with the introduction of cushion seats in all unreserved compartments. In 2008, profits were 25,000 crores (equals US $6.25 billion @ $1~Rs.40)

Well known schools of management were interested in Yadav's leadership in managing the turnaround (with more or less the same IAS officers & the same workforce who worked under the previous ministers). He went to and addressed over a hundred students from Harvard, Wharton and others in Hindi. He has received invitations from 8 Ivy League schools for lectures. The turnaround of the Indian Railways is now being studied by the students of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Prof G. Raghuram, a faculty member, IIM-A, has already conducted a detailed study on the Railways turnaround.

In August 2008, CNN-IBN alleged that Yadav had misused his position as the Union Railway Minister to help his relatives acquire land. Earlier Railway ministers and his political opponents Mamata Banerjee & Nitish Kumar have raised doubts over Lalu's achievements.

In popular culture

Many books have been written in praise of Yadav by local writers including ''Lalu Chalisa'' and ''Lalu Hala''. Entertainers, in television and film industry, mimic Yadav for their profession. According to a media report, many local barbers and saloons are earning money offering what they call the ''Lalu style hair cut''. A barber of Hajipur was quoted as saying, "The style is a craze among the youth and even policemen". Yadav has been recognised as a brand on his own amongst a few industries in rural Bihar.

A Patna-based company launched "Lalu Khaini" (tobacco) in 2004, which was a hit. In 2005, Speedage Corp. introduced "Laluji" dolls that became popular with kids. In 2006, ''Lalu ka Khzana'', a chocolate produced by New Delhi-based Chetak company, became very popular with kids in rural areas of north Bihar districts like Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Madhubani. The wrapper of the chocolate packet depicted two different caricatures of Lalu — one as a politician and the other as a magician. More than 100,000 packets were reportedly sold.

A cheap cosmetic pack brand, ''Lalu Chale Sasural'' ("Lalu goes to in-laws house"), became extremely popular among rural Bihari girls, especially in the areas of Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and Samastipur. Each packet, priced at Rs. 23 (roughly half a USD), contains items of daily use like face powder, cream, earrings, sticker, and a necklace.

In June 2006, Prakash Agro Industries in Bihar started selling cattle fodder under the brand name ''Lalu Pashu Aahar''. It was reported that the outcome of this branding strategy had surpassed the company's expectations and they were facing problems in meeting the huge demand for their fodder.

Yadav has a sizable fan following in Bollywood, which includes actors Sunil Shetty and Raza Murad and directors Mahesh Manjrekar and Mahesh Bhatt to name a few. Indian actor turned politician Shatrughan Sinha, who is a political opponent of Yadav, once said, "Had Yadav not been a politician he could have been an actor". Mahesh Bhatt has gone to the extent of saying that Yadav deserves to become Prime Minister of India. A Bollywood movie titled ''Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav'' was released in 2004. Though his name appeared in the title, the movie was not about him, but had characters named ''Padmashreee'', ''Laloo'', ''Prasad'' and ''Yadav'', however the politician made a guest appearance in it.

These incidences are viewed by some people as an attempt by the mainstream media to make deliberate fun of Yadav's accent although the movie was not a big hit.

Criticisms and controversies

Corruption allegations

Yadav has been charged in several corruption cases, the most infamous being the "Fodder Scam" in which about Rs. 950 crores (US $211.85 million) were siphoned off from the animal husbandry department. Laloo Yadav has been an accused in many of the 63-odd cases filed. He has been remanded to custody on multiple occasions because of the number of cases. Over 64 people have been convicted in the case.

Yadav was first sent to "Judicial remand" (Bihar Military Police guest house, Patna) on July 30, 1997, for 134 days. On October 28, 1998, he was again sent to the same guest house for 73 days. When the Supreme Court of India took exception to his guest house stay, he had also moved to the Beur jail in Patna. He was later remanded for 11 days on April 5, 2000, in a disproportionate assets case. He surrendered along with his wife, Rabri Devi, and was sent to the Beur Jail. Due to the proceedings in the fodder scam, Yadav was remanded for a day in Beur jail on November 28, 2000.

On November 26, 2001, Yadav was again remanded, in a case related to the fodder scam. He accused the NDA of creating a conspiracy against him. On October 1, 2004, the Supreme Court of India served a notice to Yadav and his wife, Rabri Devi, on the fodder scam. This was in response to a petition, which alleged that they have been interfering with late in the investigation. Since Laloo Yadav is currently a member of the Union Government at Delhi, the CBI has been accused of dragging its feet on the issue.

Accusations against the BJP

On August 5, 2004, Yadav claimed that L. K. Advani, a senior BJP leader and the Leader of the Opposition was an accused in a conspiracy to kill Muhammad Ali Jinnah and described him as an 'international absconder'. On September 14, 2004, Lalu asked L. K. Advani to come clean on 'his involvement' in the alleged conspiracy to assassinate the founder of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

On September 28, 2004, Lalu alleged Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, the then Union Rural Minister, of having sold 55,000 tonnes of wheat in the name of drought relief distribution in AP. "A CBI probe will be initiated to find the truth" he said.

Perceived institutional bias against Lalu Prasad Yadav

Although he has maintained a good relationship with the media, at times he has accused the media of being unfair, going so far as to threaten to sue certain media outlets for defamation. Although the Media bias against him has been recognised by certain sections of the press, he and his supporters have also claimed that the Election Commission of India has shown a bias against him on many occasions, the most recent being the last Bihar State Assembly Elections.

Positions held

1977: Elected to the 6th Lok Sabha at the age of 29.

1980–1989: Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly (two terms).

1989: Becomes the leader of Opposition, Bihar Legislative Assembly, Chairman, Pustakalaya Committee, Convenor, Committee on Public Undertakings, Re-elected to the 9th Lok Sabha (2nd term).

1990–1995: Member of the Bihar Legislative Council.

1990–1997: Chief Minister of Bihar.

1995–1998: Member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

1996: Lalu's name springs up in a major scam.

1997: parts with the Janata Dal and forms the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

1998: Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (3rd term).

1998–1999: Member, General Purposes Committee, Committee on Home Affairs and its Sub Committee on Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

2004: Re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha (4th term). Appointed Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Railways. In 2004, he was elected to the Lok Sabha with his party emerging as a key member of the Congress.

2009: Re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha (5th term).

See also

List of Chief Ministers of Bihar

List of politicians in India charged with corruption

References and footnotes

External links

{{s-ttl | title = Minister of Railways| | years = 25 May 2004 - 18 May 2009}} {{s-ttl | title = Chief Minister of Bihar| | years = 1990-1997}}

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Indian politicians Category:Chief Ministers of Bihar Category:People from Bihar Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:Rashtriya Janata Dal politicians Category:Finance Ministers of Bihar Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:Railway Ministers of India Category:V. P. Singh administration

bn:লালুপ্রসাদ যাদব bh:लालू प्रसाद यादव de:Lalu Prasad Yadav hi:लालू प्रसाद यादव ml:ലാലു പ്രസാദ് യാദവ് mr:लालू प्रसाद यादव ne:लालू प्रसाद यादव sv:Laloo Prasad Yadav ta:லாலு பிரசாத் யாதவ் te:లాలూ ప్రసాద్ యాదవ్ ur:لالو پرساد یادو

name	George Mathew Fernandes
birth date	June 03, 1930
nationality	Indian
birth place	Mangalore, South Canara British India
residence	Bangalore, India
office	MP
constituency	''Rajya Sabha'' from Bihar
term	4 August 2009 to 7 July 2010
office2	MP
constituency2	Muzaffarpur
term2	1977–1980, 1989–1996, 2004–2009
predecessor	Sharad Yadav
office3	MP
constituency3	Nalanda
term3	1996–2004
predecessor3	Vijoy Kumar Yadav
successor3	Nitish Kumar
party	Janata Dal (United)
religion	Roman Catholic
spouse	Leila Kabir
children	1 son
date	26 September |
year	2006 |
source	http://164.100.24.208/ls/lsmember/biodata.asp?mpsno Biographical Sketch of Current Lok Sabha members }}

George Mathew Fernandes (born on 3 June 1930) is an Indian trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of ''Rajya Sabha'' from Bihar. He is a key member of the Janata Dal (United), and was 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. He moved to Bombay in 1949, and joined the socialist trade union movement. As 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 (1975), as he took on then prime minister Indira Gandhi for imposing a state of emergency, but was arrested in 1976, and tried in the infamous Baroda dynamite case.

After Emergency was lifted, he won the Muzaffarpur seat in Bihar in 1977, and was appointed the 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 (NDA) Government (1998–2004), when the Kargil War broke out between India and Pakistan, and India conducted its nuclear tests at Pokhran. Though a veteran socialist, Fernandes has been dogged by various controversies like the Barak Missile scandal, and Tehelka Scandal.

Early life

George Fernandes was born on 3 June 1930 to John Joseph Fernandes and Alice Martha Fernandes (''née'' Pinto), in Mangalore to a Mangalorean Catholic family. The eldest of six children, his siblings are Lawrence, Michael, Paul, Aloysius, and Richard. His mother was a great admirer of King George V (who was also born on June 3), hence she named her first son George. His father was employed by the Peerless Finance group as an insurance executive, and headed their office of South India for several years. George was fondly called "Gerry" in close family circles. He completed his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) at St. Aloysius College, Mangalore.

In the orthodox tradition of the family, he, being the eldest son, was sent for religious education to St Peter's Seminary in Bangalore after his schooling at the age of 16, to be trained as a Roman Catholic priest from 1946 to 1948. At the age of 19, he left the seminary due to sheer frustration because he was appalled that the rectors ate better food and sat at higher tables than the seminarians. He later confessed that, "I was disillusioned, because there was a lot of difference between precept and practice where the Church was concerned." He began work at the age of 19, organising exploited workers in the road transport industry and in the hotels and restaurants in Mangalore.

Life in Bombay

After leaving the seminary, Fernandes moved to Bombay in 1949 in search of a job. His life was tough in Bombay, and he had to sleep on the streets, until he got a job as a proofreader for a newspaper. He relates to the beginning of his career by saying, "When I came to Bombay, I used to sleep on the benches of Chowpatty Sands. In the middle of the night policemen used to come and wake me up and ask me to move on." He came into contact with veteran union leader Placid D'Mello, and the socialist Rammanohar Lohia, who were the greatest influences on his life. Later, he joined the socialist trade union movement. He rose to prominence as a trade unionist and fought for the rights of labourers in small scale service industries such as hotels and restaurants. Emerging as a key figure in the Bombay labour movement in the early 1950s, Fernandes was a central figure in the unionisation of sections of Bombay labour in the 1950s. As a labour organiser, he served many prison terms when his workforce engaged in fights with company goons. He served as a member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation from 1961 to 1968. He won in the civic election in 1961 and, until 1968, continuously raised the problems of the exploited workers in the representative body of the metropolis.

The pivotal moment that thrust Fernandes into the limelight was his decision to contest the 1967 general elections. He was offered a party ticket for the Bombay South constituency by the Samyukta Socialist Party against the politically more popular Sadashiv Kanoji Patil of the Indian National Congress in Bombay. Sadashiv Kanoji Patil, or S.K. Patil, as he was popularly known, was a seasoned politician, with two decades of experience behind him. Nevertheless, Fernandes won against Patil by garnering 48.5% of the votes, thus earning his nickname, "George the Giantkiller". The shocking defeat ended Patil's political career.

Fernandes emerged as a key leader in the upsurge of strike actions in Bombay during the second half of the 1960s but, by the beginnings of the 1970s, the impetus of his leadership had largely disappeared. In 1969, he was chosen General Secretary of the Samyukta Socialist Party, and in 1973 became the Chairman of the Socialist Party. After the 1970s, Fernandes failed to make major inroads in Bombay's growing private-sector industries.

1974 Railway strike

The most notable strike organised by Fernandes, when he was President of the All India Railwaymen's Federation, was the All India Railway strike of 1974, where the entire nation was brought to a halt. The strike was the result of grievances by railway workers that had been built up over two decades before the strike. Though there were three Pay commissions between 1947 to 1974, none of them increased the cost of living of the workers. In February 1974, the National Coordinating Committee for Railwaymen's Struggle (NCRRS) was formed to bring all the railway unions, the central trade unions and political parties in the Opposition together to prepare for the strike to start on 8 May 1974. In Bombay, electricity and transport workers, as well as taxi drivers joined the protests. In Gaya, Bihar, striking workers and their families squatted on the tracks. More than 10,000 workers of the Integral Coach Factory in Madras marched to the Southern Railway headquarters to express their solidarity with the striking workers. Similar protests erupted across the country.

The strike, which started on 8 May 1974, at the time of economic crisis, provoked strong government reactions and massive arrests. According to Amnesty International, 30,000 trade unionists were detained, most held under preventive detention laws. Those arrested included not only members of the strike action committee and trade unionists, but also railwaymen who participated in the strike. The strike was called off unilaterally on 27 May 1974 by the Action Committee. As explained later by Fernandes, "the strike was called off because those conducting the strike had started speaking in different voices." Although large number of prisoners were released, among them Fernandes, thousands remained in detention, charged with specific offences. The strike led to a sense of insecurity and threat that led to Indira Gandhi’s imposition of the Emergency era in 1975. Previous strikes were aimed at companies or industries, but this stike was aimed at the government, and from its ramifications proved to be the most successful of disastrous industrial actions in Indian history.

Emergency era and union ministry

The reigning Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, declared a state of emergency on 25 June 1975 due to internal political disturbances. Accordingly, all fundamental rights enjoyed in the Indian Constitution were suspended. Political dissidents, newspaper reporters, opposition leaders who opposed the emergency were jailed. George Fernandes, along with like-minded leaders, opposed what he saw as a blatant misuse of power. A warrant was issued in Fernandes' name and subsequently he went underground to escape arrest and prosecution. When the police failed to capture him, they arrested and tortured his brother, Lawrence Fernandes, to reveal his brother's whereabouts. Snehalata Reddy, a chronic asthmatic was arrested for being in touch with George Fernandes and, as she was not given adequate care in the prison, died soon after her release.

In July 1975, Fernandes arrived in Baroda. There, he met Kirit Bhatt, who was president of Baroda Union of Journalists, and Vikram Rao, a staff correspondent of ''The Times of India'' at Baroda, both who opposed the Emergency. They used to meet and discuss on what could be done to topple the autocratic Indira Gandhi Government. An industrialist friend, Viren J. Shah, Managing Director of Mukand Ltd., helped them find contacts for procuring dynamite, used extensively in quarries around Halol (near Baroda). They aimed at blowing up toilets in government offices and cause explosions near the venue of public meetings to be addressed by Indira Gandhi. The idea was not to injure anybody, but only create a scare. The explosions were to be carried out either late in the night or hours before the public meeting was to begin to avoid injury. A plan was hatched to blow up a dais four hours before Indira Gandhi was to address a meeting in Varanasi. The conspiracy later came to be known as the infamous Baroda dynamite case.

According to Bhatt, there were two more plans that never worked out. Fernandes also wanted to rob a train used to carry weapons from Pimpri (near Poona) to Bombay. The weapons were to be used to blast government offices. Yet another plan was to take the help of other countries by using ham radio.

On 10 June 1976, he was finally arrested in Calcutta on charges of smuggling dynamite to blow up government establishments in protest against the imposition of emergency, in what came to be known as the Baroda dynamite case. After his arrest, Amnesty International members cabled the Government requesting that he be given immediate access to a lawyer and that his physical protection be guaranteed. Three world leaders from Germany, Norway, and Austria were believed to have cabled Indira Gandhi and cautioned her against harming Fernandes. From Baroda, the accused were shifted to Tihar Jail. The accused were never chargesheeted.

After the emergency was lifted on 21 March 1977, fresh general elections were held in India. The Congress Party, led by Indira Gandhi, suffered a defeat at the hands of the Janata Party, a coalition created in 1977 out of several small parties that opposed Gandhi's Emergency era. The Janata Party and its allies came to power, headed by Morarji Desai, who became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India. Fernandes won the Muzaffarpur seat in Bihar by an over 300,000 vote margin in 1977 from jail where he was lodged in the Baroda dynamite case, despite he not even visiting the constituency. He was also appointed the Union Minister for Industries. During his union ministership, he clashed with American multinationals like IBM and Coca Cola insisting them to implement FERA, the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, which had been passed under Indira Gandhi's government. Under the FERA, foreign investors could not own more than 40 percent of the share capital in Indian enterprises. The two multinationals decided to shut down their Indian operations, when Fernandes pressed ahead with rigid enforcement of FERA.

Party memberships and railway ministry

During his tenure as a minister in the Janata Party, he continued to be uncomfortable with certain elements of the broad-based Janata coalition, especially with the leaders of the erstwhile Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Jan Sangh in the Union Cabinet. In a debate preceding a vote of confidence two years into the government's tenure in 1979, he vehemently spoke out against the practice of permitting members to retain connections to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while being in the ministry in the Janata Party. The leaders of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, among them Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, refused to give up their allegiance with the RSS, leading to a split within the Janata Party. The issue of "dual membership" caused Morarji Desai to lose the vote of confidence, and his government was reduced to a minority in the ''Lok Sabha''. After the Janata Party started disintegrating in 1979, Charan Singh left it to form the Janata (Secular) Party and with support from the Congress Party, replaced Desai as Prime Minister.

In the seventh general elections held in 1980, the Janata (Secular) ministry failed to maintain a majority in the ''Lok Sabha'', and Congress once again became the ruling party. Fernandes retained his Parliamentary seat from Muzaffarpur in 1980, and sat in the opposition. He contested for the ''Lok Sabha'' in 1984 from Bangalore North constituency against future Railway minister and Congress candidate C. K. Jaffer Sheriff, but lost the election by a margin of 40,000 votes. He then decided to shift his base to Bihar in 1989, when an anti-Congress wave was sweeping the country in the wake of the Bofors scandal, and won Muzaffarpur in the 1989 and 1991 general elections, He later joined the Janata Dal, a party which was formed from the Janata Party at Bangalore in August 1988. His second tenure as Minister of Railways in the V.P. Singh's government from 1989 to 1990, though short-lived, was quite eventful. He was the driving force behind the Konkan Railway project, connecting Mangalore with Bombay. The project happened to be the first major development in the history of Indian Railways since independence.

Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party in 1994, which became a key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party which is the current form of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh. BJP formed a short-lived government in the 1996 general elections along with the Samata Party and other allies. The government survived only for 13 days, since the BJP could not gather enough support from other parties to form a majority. Fernandes later served in the opposition along with BJP during the two United Front governments (1996–1998) led by Janata Dal ministers H. D. Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral. After the collapse of the United Front ministry led by Gujral, BJP and its allies won a slender majority in the 1998 general elections. The government lasted only for 13 few months, due to the non-cooperation of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Jayalalitha.

After the collapse of the second BJP-led coalition government, BJP and its allies formed a 24 party alliance called National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which became the first non-Congress coalition government in post-independence India to survive a full five-year term (1999–2004). Later, Fernandes became the convenor of NDA. On 27 July 1999, the Janata Dal again splitted into two factions, the Janata Dal (United) and the Janata Dal (Secular). In 2003, Fernandes reunited with the Janata Dal (United), and also merged his Samata Party with it.

Defence ministry

Fernandes served as the Defence Minister of India in both the second and third National Democratic Alliance governments (1998–2004). It was during his tenure as the defence minister, when the Kargil war over Kashmir broke out between India and Pakistan in 1999. The war began when heavily armed Pakistan-backed intruders dug themselves in at heights of – on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LOC) along an stretch north of Kargil. They began attacking the strategic highway linking Srinagar and Leh. As a result, the Indian army undertook the Operation Vijay to push back the Pakistani intruders and regain the occupied territories. The inability of the Indian intelligence and military agencies to detect the infiltration early received criticism, both by the opposition as well as the media. However, Fernandes has refused to acknowledge the failure of intelligence agencies in detecting infiltration along Kargil sector.

In May 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests at the Pokharan range in Rajasthan. Earlier a staunch supporter of nuclear disarmament, Fernandes openly endorsed the NDA Government's decision to test the nuclear bombs. He was also involved in skirmishes with the then Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy, Vishnu Bhagwat, over promotion of Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. Bhagwat was subsequently sacked over the issue. After the Tehelka defence scandal broke out in March 2001, Fernandes quit as defence minister, but was reappointed to the post later. Fernandes has been the only defence minister of a nuclear power who has had a picture of Hiroshima bombing in his office. He has made 18 visits to the icy heights of the Siachen glacier in Kashmir, which holds the record of being "the world's highest battlefield". He was known for overseeing a huge increase in India's defence budget as compared to the allocations made by previous governments.

Post defence ministership

The NDA Government lost power to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the 2004 general elections. Later, political observers alleged that Fernandes was locked in a bitter party rivalry with his one-time friend, Samata Party co-founder, Nitish Kumar. In the 2009 general elections, he contested from Muzaffarpur as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the Janata Dal (United) on health grounds, but lost the election. On 30 July 2009, Fernandes filed his nomination as an independent candidate for the mid-term poll being held for the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav. The Janata Dal (United) did not field any candidate against him, which led to his being elected unopposed. He was sworn in on 4 August 2009.

Controversies

Support to Secessionist Groups

Fernandes has supported and endorsed many secessionist movements and groups. He has been a long time supporter of The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist organisation which sought to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Before joining the Vajpayee government in 1997, he organised a controversial public convention of pro-LTTE elements in New Delhi. In July 1998, he reportedly stopped the Indian Navy from intercepting ships suspected of carrying illegal arms to Tamil guerrilla groups. Fernandes was also a patron of the LTTE-backed Fund Raising Committee, set up to help the 26 accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The Sri Lankan government apparently stated that, "the LTTE's biggest supporter in India is Defence Minister George Fernandes." the Tibetan refugees fighting for freedom against China and Burmese rebels group, fighting against the military government in Myanmar.

Mr. Fernandes is a very active supporter of many Burmese anti-government movements. Quoted regularly on exiled Burmese radio stations, he often criticises the junta and its members on a wide array of topics. He opposes the current government's drive to root out anti-Burmese insurgents along the Burmese-Indian border. During his tenures in office, gun runners were allowed to do business using Indian territories, often as stop overs en route from Thailand to Bangladesh.

He also revealed the infamous "Operation Leech" incident, which resulted in the capture of Arakan Army insurgents on one of India's islands in the Andaman Sea. He also fights for the welfare and also release of anti-Burmese rebels held by the Indian Government. Once, when the National United Party of Arakan complained to Mr. Fernandes of its members being captured in Indian waters, while carrying arms, he issued orders restricting Indian military movements, and all counter-terror / counter-insurgency operations conducted in the region to be asked for approval from the Central Government.

He also claims that the several islands in the Andaman Sea, including the Coco Islands, which belong to Myanmar, were gifted by the former Prime Minister of India Nehru to the Burmese, rather than part of the original territory gained at Independence.

Tehelka Scandal

Fernandes' name figured prominently in Operation West End, a sting operation in which a group of reporters, armed with hidden cameras, from an investigative journal, Tehelka, posing as representatives of a fictitious arms company, appeared to bribe the Bharatiya Janata Party President, Bangaru Laxman, a senior officer in the Indian Army and Jaya Jaitley, the General Secretary of the Samata Party and Fernandes' companion.

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 Party and a new committee headed by Justice K Venkataswami was appointed. The Committee, after lengthy investigation, also absolved Fernandes in the case.

Barak Missile scandal

On 10 October 2006, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a First information report (FIR) against Fernandes, his associate Jaya Jaitley, and former navy chief Admiral Sushil Kumar for alleged irregularities in purchasing the Barak missile system from Israel in 2000. Fernandes, however, claimed that the scientific adviser to the Defence Minister in NDA Government (1998–2004), who later became the President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, had cleared the missile deal.

As defence minister

Following the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998, he openly branded China as "India's enemy number one". He later regretted for his statements, saying it was wrongly interpreted by the media. He has also criticised China for providing sophisticated weapons to Pakistan to build its missiles, and has rapped the Chinese for strengthening their military across the Himalayas in Tibet.

Fernandes has claimed that he was strip-searched twice at Dulles Airport in the US Capital area, when he was defence minister—once on an official visit to Washington in early 2002 and another time while en route to Brazil in mid 2003. The details of the strip-search were mentioned in American foreign policy analyst Strobe Talbott's book ''Engaging India - Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb''. However, the US embassy in Delhi issued a formal denial that Fernandes had been strip-searched, and said that, "Fernandes was not strip-searched but a security wand was waved over him when a key in his pocket set off the metal detector." Subsequently, the then United States Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, personally apologised to Fernandes over the incident. He was accused into the 2002 coffin scam, following allegations that 500 poor quality aluminium caskets were bought from the United States at rates 13 times more than the actual price, to transport the bodies of slain soldiers, after the Kargil War. However, the CBI gave a clean chit to Fernandes in the scam in its 2009 charge sheet.

Writings, journalism, and other work

Fernandes liked writing and journalism even during his student days. He was the editor of a Konkani language monthly ''Konkani Yuvak'' (Konkani Youth) in 1949. The same year, he was the editor of the ''Raithavani'' weekly in Kannada. The ''Dockman'' weekly in English, which had ceased publication, reappeared under the editorship of Fernandes in 1952–53. Though not a prolific writer, Fernandes has penned several books on politics such as ''What Ails the Socialists'' (1972), ''The Kashmir Problem'', ''Railway Strike of 1974'', ''Dignity for All: Essays in Socialism and Democracy'' (1991), and his autobiography titled ''George Fernandes Speaks'' (1991). He was also the editor of an English monthly, ''The Other Side'', and the Chairman on the editorial board of the Hindi monthly ''Pratipaksh''. A human rights activist, Fernandes has been a member of the Amnesty International, People's Union for Civil Liberties, and the Press Council of India.

Family and personal life

Fernandes met Leila Kabir, the daughter of educationist and former Union minister Humayun Kabir on a flight back to Delhi from Calcutta. Fernandes, then the general secretary of the Samyukta Socialist Party, was returning from Bangladesh while Kabir was on her way back from the battlefront where she had gone as an assistant director of the Red Cross. They began dating and were married on 21 July 1971. They have a son, Sean Fernandes, who is an investment banker based in New York. Fernandes and Kabir separated in the mid-1980s Jaya Jaitly has been Fernandes' companion since 1984.

Fernandes speaks ten languages—Konkani, English, Hindi, Tulu, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam, and Latin. Konkani is his mother tongue. He learnt Marathi and Urdu in jail, and Latin while he was in the seminary in his early youth. He is extremely fluent in Hindi and English.

Fernandes is suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and in January 2010 was undergoing treatment at Baba Ramdev's ''ashram'' at Haridwar for the diseases at the request of Leila Kabir, who had recently returned to his life. In February 2010, Fernandes' brothers were reported to have been considering a court order for medical treatment and visitation; Kabir and Sean Fernandes are alleged to have forcibly removed Fernandes to an undisclosed location. In July 2010, the Dehli High Court ruled that Fernandes would stay with Kabir and that Fernandes' brothers would be able to visit.

References

Bibliography

External links

Ongoing news coverage from The Times Network

{{s-ttl | title = Minister of Defence | years = 1999–2004}}

{{s-ttl | title = Minister of Railways | years = 1989–1990}}

Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:Indian politicians Category:Indian Roman Catholics Category:People from Mangalore Category:Indian trade unionists Category:4th Lok Sabha members Category:14th Lok Sabha members Category:Janata Dal (United) politicians Category:Defence Ministers of India Category:Mangaloreans Category:People from Bangalore Category:Railway Ministers of India Category:Maharashtra politicians Category:Members of Parliament from Maharashtra Category:Members of the Rajya Sabha Category:V. P. Singh administration

fr:George Fernandes hi:ज्योर्ज फ़र्नान्डिस ml:ജോർജ് ഫെർണാണ്ടസ് mr:जॉर्ज फर्नांडिस sv:George Fernandes ta:ஜார்ஜ் பெர்னாண்டஸ்

Sharad Yadav, a politician from the Janata Dal (United) party, is currently a Member of the Parliament of India representing the Madhepura constituency of Bihar in the Lok Sabha. He had also represented Bihar in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.

He is also the current convenor of the NDA

He was also an MP from the Jabalpur constituency in Madhya Pradesh in 1977.

Controversies

Sharad Yadav, along with others were named in infmaous multi-crore Hawala scandal for receiving Rs 3 Lakhs towards Party Fund. He was however acquitted by Delhi High Court citing many reasons including ''"The video interview of Sharad Yadav does not amount to a confession."'' and ''"No inference of a criminal intention in receiving the amount of Rs 3 lakh by Sharad Yadav as donation to the party fund can arise."''.

References

External links

Profile on Rajya Sabha website

Category:Indian politicians Category:Janata Dal (United) politicians Category:Members of the Rajya Sabha Category:15th Lok Sabha members Category:V. P. Singh administration Category:Living people

mr: शरद यादव