Oommen Chandy: A colossus of Kerala politics
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Oommen Chandy, former Chief Minister of Kerala, who breathed his last in the early hours of Tuesday (July 18) in a Bengaluru clinic, was born on October 31, 1943, in Puthuppally, Kerala.
Oommen Chandy’s son Chandy Oommen announced the news of his father’s death in a Facebook post. Chandy began his political journey at a young age with the Kerala Students Union (KSU). He quickly rose in the political arena and held many positions, from being the MLA of Puthuppally for five decades — he was elected in 1970, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016 and 2021 — to handling the home and finance portfolios of the state Cabinet before assuming charge as Chief Minister of Kerala for the first time in 2004. This was when AK Antony stepped down following a poll debacle for the Congress in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Inside the party, Chandy belonged to the group headed by Antony. It was when Karunakaran, the leader of the ‘I Group’ (named after Indira Gandhi), refused MA Kuttappan a seat in the Rajya Sabha in 1994, Chandy resigned as the Finance Minister and went on the offensive. Karunakaran had to resign as Chief Minister soon after. Chandy faced the toughest time of his life when he was linked with the notorious solar scam that rocked the state in 2013. However, a CBI probe exonerated him from some of the heinous charges levelled against him. In a letter addressed to Chandy’s widow Mariamma Oommen, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Chandy as a “leader of high esteem who was respected by everybody irrespective of party lines”. Paying tribute to Chandy, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Chandy’s unwavering commitment and visionary leadership left an indelible mark on Kerala’s progress and the nation’s political landscape. “Oommen Chandy was an exemplary grassroots Congress leader. We will miss him dearly”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a message.
