Oommen Chandy: A mass leader who loved to live among the people

Chandy was born on October 21, 1943, in Puthuppally in Kottayam district, from where he would go on to make his name as one of the most popular political leaders in Kerala. He got his initial break in politics through the Kerala Students’ Union, the students’ wing of Congress in the state. He graduated in law, and became a prominent leader of the Youth Congress, emerging as its state president in 1969.

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Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy passed away on Tuesday at 79. He served as the state chief minister from 2011 to 2016, and from 2004 to 2006. (Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)

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Chandy greets the then Gujarat CM Modi and Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi Kerala at the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi in January 2014. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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An all-party delegation from Kerala, headed by Oommen Chandy meet the then PM Manmohan Singh in 2012 over the Mullaperiyar Dam at the Parliament. (Express Archive)

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Oommen Chandy, then Chief Minister of Kerala, during 'Emerging Kerala 2012' business meeting in Mumbai. (Express Archive)

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Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala, PK Kunhalikutty, Minister for Industries & IT, R.K.M Mani, Miinster for Finance, Housing & Law, during “Emerging Kerala 2012” business meeting. (Express Archive)

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Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at the PM office in new Delhi in July 2014.(Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy during a meeting in New Delhi in 2014. (Express Archive)

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Chandy at the panel discussion on 'Kerala's growth and equity -Way forward' in New Delhi, 2014. (Express photo by Anil Sharma)

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Then Kerala CM Oommen Chandy appears before Solar inquiry commission in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016 (PTI Photo/Archive)

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Oommen Chandy in January 2016, refused to undergo a lie-detector test while deposing before a judicial commission probing charges in the “solar scam” allegedly linked to his staff. (Express Archive)

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Different political wings of SUCI during a protest rally against the rape and murder of law student in Kerala, later they burn effigy of CM of Kerala Oommen Chandy in Kolkata on May 09, 2016. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

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Chandy was present during the induction of Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to the Congress party in 2018. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey)

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Congress leaders Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and Mullapally Ramachandran after the poll results, in Thiruvananthapuram in 2020. (Express Archive)

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The Kerala government declared two-day state mourning and a public holiday on Tuesday on account of former CM Chandy's demise.

The next year, he was elected from the Puthuppally Assembly seat for the first time, aged 27. He would go on to become the longest-serving legislator from Kerala, representing the constituency from 1970 until his death, a rare feat in state politics. In the last Kerala Assembly elections held in 2021, Chandy had won from Puthuppally for the 12th consecutive time.

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and party leader Rahul Gandhi paid last respects to former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy, in Bengaluru.

(Pics: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) https://t.co/sBEdeAOeZm pic.twitter.com/Say0VC2wmT

— ANI (@ANI) July 18, 2023

A massive crowd-puller, Chandy served as the Kerala CM from 2011 to 2016, and from 2004 to 2006. From 2006 to 2011, he had also served as the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly.

During his second stint as CM, Chandy had launched a mass contact programme to meet people and hear their grievances and ensure relief to them. His programme was widely lauded as a unique democratic experiment in which the chief minister of a state met thousands of people directly without any intermediaries. The programme received the United Nations Global Award for Public Service in 2013.

Oommen Chandy is survived by his wife Mariamma and children Maria Oommen, Chandy Oommen, and Achu Oommen.