Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday wrote to Blossom Fernandes, wife of senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes who passed away today. A man for all seasons for Congress, Oscar Fernandes was a loyalist of the Nehru-Gandhi family and often worked behind-the-scenes for the success of party programmes as he organised youth to carry out various organisational tasks.
Dr. Manmohan Singh consoling Oscar's wife Blossom in his letter wrote, I was deeply shocked and saddened to learn about the sudden and untimely demise of our beloved Oscar Fernandes today. With his hard work, pleasant nature and popularity he became one of the tallest leaders of the Congress Party from Karnataka who helped the Congress Party in making many important decisions."
Further Singh said, "His popularity among the common people of Kamataka is evident from the fact that Oscar was elected five times to the Lok Sabha and two times to the Rajya Sabha He was a gifted leader and an efficient administrator who served as a Minister in the Central Government in the UPA Government. His services to the country, especially, to state of Karnataka, will always be remembered by the people of our country."
Singh's wife wife Gursharan Kaur too joined him to convey heartfelt condolences to Blossom and other members of her family.
Concluding his note, he wrote, "May God give all of you the strength to bear this great loss with courage and fortitude."
Born on March 27, 1941, Oscar Fernandes was a senior Congress leader and was the Union Cabinet Minister for Transport, Road and Highways and Labour and Employment, in the UPA government.
A sitting Member of the Rajya Sabha, he was critically injured after he fell accidentally while doing his regular exercise on July 20 this year. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in a super speciality hospital at Mangalore.
He was elected to the 7th Lok Sabha in 1980 from the Udupi constituency in Karnataka. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984, 1989, 1991 and 1996 from the same constituency. Later, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1998. He was re-elected to the upper house in 2004.
