In a statement, she said Fernandes died at his home in the early hours of yesterday and his body was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for embalming.
“We plan to conduct his last rites soon after our son, Sean Fernandes, arrives in India. The body is kept at our house S-114 Panchsheel Park for friends and associates to pay their last respects,” Leila said.
As soon as Sean arrives from the US, the family will finalise the timing of the last rites, she said.
“I and my son are grateful to everyone who has come/messaged us to share our grief,” Leila added.
Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the family to express condolence and pay last respects to the veteran socialist leader.
Modi laid a wreath at the coffin and spoke to Fernandes’ wife Leila Kabir for several minutes.
Modi had earlier tweeted: “When we think of George Fernandes, we remember most notably the fiery trade union leader who fought for justice, the leader who could humble the mightiest of politicians at the hustings, a visionary railway minister and a great defence minister who made India safe and strong.”
Fernandes, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s, had been out of the public eye and bed-ridden for more than eight years. He was 88.
Maharashtra leaders cutting across political lines mourned his demise.
Governor C V Rao described him as “one of the fiercest leaders of the working class in Mumbai in the post-Independence era, who was a leader of the masses with unprecedented popularity”.
“Fernandes served as union minister in various governments. I had the privilege of working with him in the government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. At my instance, Fernandes had unveiled a statue of Param Vir Chakra awardee Capt Vijaya Raghunandan Rao in Karimnagar, Telangana,” Rao recalled.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the nation has lost an important political functionary.
“We have lost a tall leader in Indian politics. Apart from his other achievements, he had been a trade union leader first and fought his long battle for the welfare and rights of the workers and poor,” Fadnavis said.
Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said the country has lost “a soulful leader” who fought for the workers, the poor, the downtrodden and the labour classes.
“His one word could shut down Mumbai and the working classes have lost a tall leader who served well in different capacities as union minister,” Chavan said.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar said the country has lost a fighter-leader who dedicated his life to the commoners.
“He was an influential fluent orator, having command over many languages, and my close friend... I have lost a senior colleague in public life,” Pawar said.
Expressing grief, former Union minister Milind Deora said “Fernandes liked reminding me that he had also represented the Mumbai South (constituency) before I was born” and would walk home from Parliament daily sans any security.”
NCP state spokesperson Nawab Malik said that the nation has lost “a dynamic grassroots leader who led from the front, and a political stalwart.”
Senior Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut plans to make a biopic on the veteran trade union leader.
Despite their strong ideological differences, the Sena founder-patriarch Bal Thackeray and Fernandes enjoyed a great personal rapport, especially since the latter spoke fluent Marathi, among 10 languages he had mastered.