E-Paper
Oommen Chandy: A people’s leader, colossus of Kerala politics
Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has passed away at the age of 79. Chandy, a Congress leader, served as Chief Minister from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. He was known for his accessibility and dedication to public service. His tenure saw the inauguration of major infrastructure projects and he was awarded the United Nations award for public service in 2013. Chandy held the record for the longest-serving legislator in Kerala, winning 12 consecutive elections and representing the Puthupally assembly constituency for 53 years.
KOCHI: A two-time chief minister of Kerala and a Congress leader who enjoyed mass public support cutting across social and religious divides, Oommen Chandy passed away in the early hours of Tuesday while undergoing treatment for cancer at a private hospital in Bengaluru. He was 79.
Chandy, who served as chief minister of the southern state from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016, was one of the tallest Congress leaders whose mild demeanor and accessibility made him endearing both to leaders across the political spectrum as well as the larger public.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled Chandy’s demise and tweeted, “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.”
Chandy holds the record for the longest-served legislator in Kerala having represented Puthupally assembly constituency in Kottayam district continuously since 1970. He won 12 consecutive elections and held the seat for 53 years.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Chandy’s long stint in the assembly and his undefeated record in elections were proof of the influence he wielded over people’s hearts.
“Hard work and persistence always led Oommen Chandy. Without giving attention to food, sleep or his health, he worked to spread the Congress ideology. Even when he was ill, he was engaged in fulfilling his responsibilities. His dedication to public service is an inspiration for the younger generation. He has passed away by leaving a giant void in the public sphere in Kerala,” Vijayan wrote in a Facebook note.
Born on October 31, 1943 in Puthupally, Chandy entered politics through the Kerala Students’ Union (KSU), the student wing of the Congress in the southern state, and later became its state president. At the age of 27, he successfully contested his first assembly election from Puthupally in 1970. He has never lost since.
Chandy served as labour, finance, and home minister in the cabinets of K Karunakaran and AK Antony. His first stint as the chief minister came in 2004 after the party suffered a humiliating defeat in Kerala in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections and asked then incumbent AK Antony to resign taking moral responsibility. Seven years later, when the Congress picked up a two-seat razor-thin majority after the 2011 elections, Chandy was again asked to head the state.
In the run-up to the 2016 assembly elections, Chandy was accused of corruption in the solar panel scam, even though a Crime Branch probe later failed to find evidence against him.
In his terms as CM, Chandy played an instrumental role in inaugurating or developing some of the state’s biggest infrastructure projects, such as Kochi Metro, Vizhinjam international seaport, Kannur international airport and several highway bypasses and medical colleges. During his second term in power, he embarked on the ‘jana samparka paripadi’ (mass contact programme) to interact directly with the public and resolve their grievances on the spot. These programmes, conducted across districts with the CM attending to matters, earned him the United Nations award for public service in 2013.
“He was a democrat par excellence, both in his personal and official life. He was humble, easily accessible and remained an ordinary man even when he was the chief minister,” said J Prabhash, former pro-vice chancellor of Kerala University.
“I remember one incident when he was the chief minister. I was travelling by train at night and when we reached Kottayam, I heard a commotion. When I looked down, I saw it was Oommen Chandy surrounded by some party leaders. Sensing that I had woken up by the commotion, he told me, ‘Please bear with me for 10 minutes and I will settle down’. Which serving chief minister would say such a thing to an ordinary man? And sure enough, after a few minutes, I heard him happily snoring. I will never forget it,” Prabhash added.
Lathika Subhash, former state chief of the Mahila Congress who resigned from the party and joined the NCP in 2021, said she considers Chandy her role model. “I have been a public representative since 1991 but I have not seen anyone who’s as enmeshed in the sea of ordinary, poor people. That’s why lakhs of people are flowing in to pay their homage to him,” she said.
She recalled that when she was denied a ticket in the 2021 assembly elections and proceeded to tonsure her head in front of the Congress office as a mark of protest, many within the party railed against her. “But not Oommen Chandy. He did not say a word against me,” she added.
On Tuesday, thousands of people flowed into the Puthupally House in Thiruvananthapuram and the Durbar Hall near Secretariat to pay homage to Chandy. A teary-eyed AK Antony was seen kissing the glass case carrying Chandy’s mortal remains. The body will be taken to Kottayam and subsequently Puthupally on Wednesday and the funeral rites will be conducted at 2 pm on Thursday.
The state government declared a public holiday on Tuesday and announced two days of mourning.
