Former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy passes away at 79

Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy passes away after a prolonged fight with throat cancer at a private facility in Bengaluru.

Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy, who served as the Chief Minister of Kerala twice, died in Bengaluru in the early hours of Tuesday, his family said. He was 79. The death of the former Kerala chief minister was announced by his son, Chandy Oommen, in a Facebook post. "Appa has passed away", Oommen wrote on his Facebook page, without elaborating. Chandy, who had not been keeping well for quite some time, had been staying in Bengaluru for treatment at a health facility.

State Mourning-Chandy who was ailing from throat cancer was staying in Bengaluru since November last year. As a mark of respect, the Kerala government has declared a public holiday on Tuesday and a two-day State mourning across the state. Chandy had served in the Cabinet as Minister of Labour, Home, and Finance in the different governments led by K Karunakaran and A K Antony. Chandy had also served as the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly.

Longest Serving MLA-Chandy will go down in the history of Kerala Assembly records as the longest-serving legislator in the state. In 1970, Chandy was elected from his home constituency Puthupally in Kottayam district. His passing away will render the seat vacant from the same seat from which he was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly. Chandy remained as an MLA for an uninterrupted 53 years. Last year, Chandi edged out KM Mani - the Kerala Congress veteran - in terms of the number of years being a legislator.

Funeral-Chandy's family said they will fly his body from Bengaluru to state capital Thiruvananthapuram later in the day. It is pertinent to note the entire galaxy of Opposition leaders are now attending the 'Joint Opposition Meeting.' Efforts are on the anvil to hold the funeral at Chandy's home parish at Puthupally on Wednesday.

Condolences-Condolences started to pour in with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan recalling his association with Chandy as they both made their debut in the Kerala Assembly in 1970. “We started our political journey together through student politics and continued a very long way. Chandy was always with the people and it’s tough to say goodbye to him,” said Vijayan.

The country’s longest-serving Defence Minister and long term associate AK Antony termed Chandy's demise as his biggest personal loss to him and to his family. “He will go down as the most popular politician in Kerala as even when on his deathbed, his only thinking was how to help people. Kerala will miss Chandy very badly,” Antony said. We have been sharing everything right from 1973 and Chandy is the one who can never be replaced, he added.

Legislative Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan, Union Minister V Muraleedharan, and leaders of various political parties condoled Chandy's demise.