Mumbai's veteran taxi drivers, railway, municipal, BEST workers, and displaced mill workers, still swear by their firebrand union leader George Fernandes, who breathed his last on Tuesday. They describe him as a 'Na bhooto na bhavishyati neta' (unprecedented leader). No other leader commanded the collective might of the blue-collared force in the metro that continues to be the growth engine of the country, as he did.

"We didn't know which political party Fernandes belonged to, but he was a leader who fought for our rights on the streets. His family background, caste and religious belief did not matter," said Laxman Singh, 70, who drove a taxi in the city when Fernandes was a trade union leader.