Remembering Oommen Chandy: A Tribute to the Former Kerala CM Who Passed Away at 79.
Oommen Chandy, a former chief minister of Kerala and seasoned congressman, passed away on July 18 in Bangalore. Age-wise, he was 79. His son Chandy Oommen posted the sad news of his passing on Facebook. At 4:30 in the morning, Chandy Oommen wrote, “Appa has passed away.”
Chandy was receiving treatment at Charité Hospital in Berlin, NIMS Medicity in Thiruvananthapuram, and Health Care Global Enterprises in Bangalore for his more than three-year illness.
Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of Kerala, expressed his sorrow at Chandy’s passing by noting that Chandy and he had both been elected to the Legislative Assembly in the same year. We first became involved in politics around that time as students. Together, we have lived our public lives, and now this. It was really hard for him to say goodbye to him. Chandy was an effective administrator and someone who had a strong sense of community.
Oommen Chandy was born in Puthuppally in 1943 and first entered politics in the 1960s as a student leader for the Kerala Student Federation. Today, he serves as the chief minister of Kerala. He pursued a degree in Economics before earning an LLB and was involved in the Congress’s student branch in Kerala.
He was originally elected as an MLA from Puthuppally in the Kottayam district in 1970, and he served there without opposition for more than 50 years, setting a record for the longest tenure of any MLA in Kerala and the whole nation.
From 1977 to 1978, Chandy was Kerala’s Labour Minister. From 1981 to 1982, he was Home Minister. From 1991 to 1994, he was Finance Minister. Later, he rose to the position of convener for Kerala’s Congress-led coalition, the United Democratic Front.
In 2004, he took over as Kerala’s chief minister after A.K. Antony was appointed defence minister by the federal government.
The UDF was ousted from office in 2006, but Chandy led the alliance to victory in 2011 and retook the position of Chief Minister, this time for a full five years. His administration saw the implementation of substantial infrastructural and social programmes in Kerala.
Chandy entered national politics in 2018 after being appointed the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in charge of Andhra Pradesh.
Known for his modesty and esteemed even by his competitors:
Despite serving as Chief Minister twice and an MLA for more than 50 years, Chandy was nonetheless well-known for leading a straightforward life.
A noteworthy event occurred in 2016 when Oommen Chandy was spotted aboard a bus from Kollam to Thiruvananthapuram when he was still the chief minister. He left his position as CM not long before this occurred. Even while serving as Chief Minister, he occasionally took the train from Kerala to Delhi.
Chandy opted to stay at his home, “Puthupally House,” rather than the official Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram during his first tenure as CM from 2004 to 2006. Even during his second tenure, he and his wife lived simply and only used a tiny portion of the house.
Chandy was accused of wrongdoing, including the solar scam, but all charges were ultimately dismissed. A number of CPI(M) activists attacked Chandy in 2013 during the issue, and Chandy’s car was stoned. Later, one of the defendants quit the CPI(M) and met Chandy to apologise for what had transpired.
Chandy also pardoned the attacker and forgot her wrongdoing.
Family & Personal Life: Chandy is married to Mariamma and has two children and a boy as members of his family. Both he and his young Congress politician son, Chandy Oommen, participated in the “Bharat Yatra,” a barefoot trek.
The departure of Oommen Chandy is important for Kerala and the political landscape of India, and his contributions and modesty will be warmly recalled.