Congress veteran and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy died early Tuesday morning in a Bengaluru hospital. He was 79 and had been undergoing treatment for cancer.
The news was shared by his son, Congress leader Chandy Oommen on Facebook at 4.30 am, who wrote: “Appa has passed away.”Chandy, known as a mass leader who loved to live among the people, has been the longest-serving legislator in Kerala Assembly.
Chandy has also been seen among a milling crowd. He has been representing Puthuppally Assembly constituency from 1970 successively till his death, a rare feat in state politics.
When Chandy won the Assembly elections of 2021, it was his 12th consecutive win from the same assembly. Chandy had also served four Congress cabinets, under the veterans K Karunakaran and A K Antony, handling the portfolios of Labour, Finance and Home.
The mainstay of Congress politics in Central Kerala, Chandy was born on October 31, 1943, at Puthuppally in Kottayam, which later emerged as his political fiefdom. He got initiated into politics through the Kerala Students Union.
