The road leading up to that victory was no less dramatic. As a principal accused in the Baroda dynamite case, the picture of a bespectacled,curly-haired man in chains, captured the imagination of an entire electorate and became the symbol of defiance to Indira Gandhi's authoritarian ways and global news networks flashed it as their lead photo. After then, it became a question of cashing in a strong anti-Congress sentiment and no one knew how to do it better than George.
Says Dr Harendra Kumar, his close friend from Muzaffarpur, ``Nitish Kumar is a product of the George Fernandes school. It goes to the latter's credit that he goaded Nitish and his Samata Party into an alliance with the BJP ending years of Lalu raj in the state.''
No surprise then that the Bihar Chief Minister's backyard Nalanda, became George's next stop after Muzaffarpur. He won the Nalanda seat twice, 1996 and 1998. Later came the fall out with Nitish but before the controversy could snowball, the wily Bihar Chief Minister quickly nominated him to the Rajya Sabha.
As Union Minister in the Morarji Desai government, George raised a storm when he banned Coca Cola, in an act of defiance to multinational companies. The little background to this ban is interesting. According to Harendra Kumar, when George after his historic first win came to the Muzaffarpur circuit house, he was offered a Coke by the then district magistrate. What followed took everyone by surprise. The newly-elected MP launched a diatribe against multinationals and vowed to remove Cola from not just the state but the country itself! The rest is history.
George's political actions during his four-decade political journey have never been easy to predict – and that perhaps is his USP. When political brinkmanship and vaulting ambitions threatened to bring down the Morarji Desai government, George offered one of the most stoicdefences of the Janta Party government – but later in the day, quite inexplicably, put in his papers.
Says a former Janata Dal associate, who requests anonymity given ``George sahab's'' health, ``He is complex enough to defy analysis. He resigned on the question of the dual membership along with former Socialist leader Madhu Limaye in 1979, yet he became BJP's mascot in the Atal Behari Vajpayee's NDA government. History was repeated in 1989-90 when George broke away from the Janata Dal and formed the Samata party in 1995 when VP Singh was no longer PM.
His govt was defeated in 1991, which is a bit like the chequered history of Socialists in India itself. Pretty much in themould of a Ram Manohar Lohia, his two principal political opponents have been the Congress for its family rule - and it goes to George's credit that he one of the few politicians not accused of nepotism – and the Left which believes that Socialists like George actually scuppered India's Communist dream and worse, acted as Trojan Horses for a revivalist Hindu Right wing.
Even though George's stint as the Union Defence Minister was marked by the sacking of the country's Navy chief and the Kargil war, the then Chief of Army Staff Gen. VP Malik, draws an evocative picture of his former boss. ``He was a very open person and was always willing to go through the documents, even if lengthy. He was concerned about the welfare of men. It was proved by the number of visits he made to difficult forward areas. Siachen was one such destination which he visited more than anyone else.''
At Panchsheel Park, it is difficult to believe that its main resident has had such a hoary past. Out of the public eye and political networks, the once fiery orator has wife Leila Kabir and three attendants for the company. Life is a tad staid: breakfast at 9.00 am, lunch at 1.30 pm and dinner between 7.30 to 8.00 pm.
A quote or photographs – much less an interview - is out of the question. Says a source who has access to the household, ``George is lost to the world with his Alzheimer's disease. He does not what is going on, is bedridden and seriously ill.''
Controversies, it appears, are not willing to let go of him even in this catatonic stage. In August this year, former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly and a close party colleague (see interview) was allowed to meet George once every fortnight for 15 minutes.
The Supreme Court allowed Jaitly's plea after the Delhi High Court had denied her permission to visit her ailing 82-year-old comrade. The Samata Party leader had earlier moved the High Court after Fernandes's family members – read wife Leila Kabir - had not allowed this meeting.
The High Court had earlier ruled that she had no business to claim visitation rights. Jaitly had sought permission on the ground that she has been George's close political colleague and confidante for more than 30 years and that he required aid and assistance from an old friend.
Her plea was opposed by Fernandes' family on grounds of her locus standi. They contended she could not be added as a party because she had no legal status. For George, it is probably ironic that a controversy of this nature has emerged at the end of his political career. Sadly, this is one dispute where his legendary oratory skills and powers to persuade cannot be put to use.
Photo - Ranjan Basu