Oommen Chandy : Veteran Congress leader and two-time Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy passed away at the age of 79 early morning on Tuesday, 18th July’2023 in a Bengaluru hospital. His son, Chandy Oommenn, broke the news in a Facebook post where he said, “Appa has passed away.”
At 4:25 am on 18th July, 2023, Chandy was announced dead in Chinmaya Mission Hospital in Bengaluru. He was undergoing cancer treatment since 2019. The demise of Chandy has led to the Left-led Kerala government announcing a two-day state mourning and a public holiday for Tuesday.
Oommen Chandy
Oommen Chandy was an Indian politician who served as the tenth Chief Minister of Kerala, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. He was also leader of the opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011. He represented Puthuppally constituency as a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the State Assembly from 1970 until his death in 2023.
He was the longest serving MLA in the Kerala Legislative Assembly and also the longest-serving MLA of any legislative assembly in the history of India. He is the only Indian chief minister to achieve award for public service from the United Nations. He was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress party.
On 6 June 2018, Congress President Rahul Gandhi appointed him as the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee in charge of the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was a Congress Working Committee member in his last days.
Oommen Chandy was born on 31 October 1943 in Puthupally, Kottayam district in Kerala, India.
Chandy completed his pre-university course from CMS College, Kottayam and received a B.A. in Economics from St. Berchmans College, Changanassery. Later, he earned a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B) from the Government Law College, Ernakulam.
He started his political career with the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and also served as it’s president from 1967 to 1969.
Oommen Chandy received the 2013 United Nations Public Service Award for the Asia-Pacific region, for “Preventing and Combating Corruption in the Public Service.” The award was presented on 27 June 2013, in Manama, Bahrain, by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo. The award was based on the theme “Transformative e-Government and Innovation: Creating a Better Future for All.”
The Kerala government has announced Tuesday as a public holiday and two days’ mourning as a mark of respect to the late former chief minister
Representing Puthuppally constituency, Chandy served as the MLA for more than half a century setting the record for the longest tenure.
- Oommen Chandy was born in Puthupally in 1943 and entered politics as a student leader in the 1960s under the Kerala Students’ Union. the Congress’ students’ wing in Kerala. He did a BA in Economics followed by an LLB degree.
- He was first elected as an MLA from Puthupally in Kottayam district in 1970 and remained undefeated from there for over five decades. He holds the record for being the longest serving MLA in Kerala and one of the longest in the country.
- Chandy became Kerala’s labour minister from 1977 to 1978, home minister from 1981-82 and finance minister from 1991-94. He later became convenor of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala.
- In the factional politics of the Congress in Kerala, he is known to have been a loyalist of AK Antony.
- Though the Congress-led UDF lost power in 2006, Chandy led the alliance to victory in 2011 and became CM again, this time for a full five-year term. Both his terms saw the implementation of key welfare schemes and infrastructure projects in Kerala.
- In 2018, Chandy was brought to national politics as the Congress’ general secretary in-charge for Andhra Pradesh.
- Chandy was famous for his humility and leading a simple life, despite being a two-time CM and a legislator for over 50 years.
- An incident that got talked about a lot in Kerala took place in 2016 when passengers in a bus from Kollam to Thiruvananthapuram found Oommen Chandy travelling with them. This was a few months after he demitted office as CM. The same year a photo of Chandy lying down on the lower berth of a sleeper class compartment in a Thiruvananthapuram-Kottayam train went viral.
- Even as CM, he is said to have travelled to Delhi from Kerala by train on a few occasions.During his first term as CM from 2004 to 2006, Chandy didn’t even move in to the CM’s residence at Thiruvananthapuram’s Cliff House and chose to stay at his own residence ‘Puthupally House’. When he did move in during his second term, Chandy and his wife used only a small part of the residence and lived frugally.
- Chandy faced allegations of corruption in what was called the Solar Scam by his rivals but he was later acquitted of all charges. A group of CPI-M workers attacked Chandy and pelted his car with stones during the thick of the controversy in 2013. One of the accused later quit the CPI-M and is reported to have met Chandy to express regrets on what had happened.Oommen Chandy, too, on his part forgave the attacker.
The former CM is survived by his wife Mariamma, two daughters and a son. His son, Chandy Oommen, is a Youth Congress leader and had walked barefoot during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
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