Oommen Chandy passed away: Tributes are pouring in from across the country for former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy who breathed his last on Tuesday morning. He was 79 years old. The former Chief Minister was staying at a health facility in Bengaluru for treatment due to ill health for a long time.
Reacting to Chandy’s death, outgoing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described him as an able administrator and a person who was closely associated with the people of the state. Vijayan said, “Oommen Chandy was an able administrator and a person closely related to the lives of the people.”
Meanwhile, the Kerala Congress also paid tributes to its “dearest leader”. “Extremely saddened to bid farewell to our most beloved leader and former CM Shri Oommen Chandy. One of the most popular and dynamic leaders of Kerala, Chandy Sir was loved across generations and all sections of the population. The Congress family appreciates his leadership Will miss and energy (sic),” it wrote on Twitter.
Born in October 1943, Chandy served as the 10th Chief Minister of Kerala. He was considered one of the finest Congress leaders in the state. Chandy entered the political arena as an activist of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the Congress party, the largest student organization in Kerala. He was the unit president of the KSU at St. George’s High School, Puthuppally, and went on to become the state president of the organization.
Read also: Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy passed away after prolonged illness
Oommen Chandy: Know everything about him
- Oommen Chandy began his political career through the Kerala Students’ Union, where he served as its president from 1967 to 1969.
- In 1970, he was elected the President of the State Youth Congress.
- He has represented the Puthupalle constituency as an MLA in the state assembly since 1970.
- He served as the CM of Kerala from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016.
- He was also the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011.
- He also holds the record for being the longest serving MLA in the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
- Chandy was the only Indian chief minister to receive an award for public service from the United Nations.
- He was also a minister in the Kerala government four times.
- Chandy also participated in the 35th World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland in 2006.
- In his last days he was a member of the Congress Working Committee