In 1977 , after the Emergency had been lifted , Fernandes won the Muzaffarpur seat in Bihar in absentia 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 ( NDA ) Government ( 1998 – 2004 ) , 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 . George Fernandes won nine Lok Sabha elections from 1967 to 2004 . He died on 29 January 2019 at the age of 88
nuclear tests at Pokhran
Pokhran-II
George Fernandes