Congress veteran and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy passes away at 79

Seventy-nine-year-old Chandy, who served as Chief Minister of Kerala twice, passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Ailing from throat cancer, the veteran leader had not been keeping well for quite some time and was staying in Bengaluru since last November.

As a mark of respect, the Kerala government has declared a public holiday on Tuesday. The banks are not functioning and all examinations have been postponed.

Also, a three-day mourning will be observed in the state.

Among quite a few records Chandy held, one record which is unlikely to be breached is as the longest-serving legislator in the state Assembly.

He won his first election in 1970 from his home constituency Puthupally in Kottayam district.

When he passed away, he was the sitting legislator from the same constituency for an uninterrupted 53 years.

Chandy’s political career began as a leader of the Kerala Students Union- the political arm of the Congress in the sixties and then there was no looking back.

It was his stint as the Home Minister in 1981 , which saw path breaking initiatives when the uniform of police men was changed from Khaki shorts to Khaki pants.

Incidentally, Chandy’s stature grew when the factionalism in the state unit of the Congress grew when K .Karunakaran and A.K.Antony headed the rival factions when he was the Man Friday of the latter and it continued till he replaced him in 2004.

And it was when he became the Chief Minister that his popularity grew as he was available to anyone and his ‘mass contact programme’ where he stood for 18 hours at one stretch won him accolades and in his second tenure in 2011-16.

He continued the programme and in 2013 won the UN Award which was given to him in Bahrain.

As the news of his demise spread, a pall of gloom descended with numerous flex boards springing up across the state.

Condoling his demise Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "In the passing away of Shri Oommen Chandy Ji, we have lost a humble and dedicated leader who devoted his life to public service and worked towards the progress of Kerala. I recall my various interactions with him, particularly when we both served as Chief Ministers of our respective states, and later when I moved to Delhi. My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this sorrowful hour. May his soul rest in peace,”.

Terming his death an "end" of a political chapter, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote, "A historic chapter in Kerala Politics came to an end with the demise of Oommen Chandy. His contributions to our state as an administrator, political leader and people’s representative have been exemplary. Joining the grief of family, friends, and supporters. Condolences,” wrote Vijayan in his Facebook.

The body of Chandy will be flown to the state capital later in the day for which the state government and the Congress have made elaborate arrangements. The body will be placed in the Durbar Hall of the State Secretariat and then taken to the Church he visited when in the state capital .

It would lie in state at the State Congress party headquarters and late in the night to his house here.

On Wednesday morning, the body will be taken to his home town and will be placed at an open ground in Kottayam.

At night, it will be moved to his house at Puthuppally and on Thursday it will be interned at his Church parish next door to his house.

Indo-Asian News Service