Oommen Chandy: A leader who built Congress as mass movement in Kerala

Former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy passed away in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning. File pic/PTI

A home-grown politician, Oommen Chandy's six-decade long political career has been inextricably linked to the ups and downs of the Congress party in Kerala's bipolar political ecosystem. Kerala Assembly's longest serving MLA and a true-blue Congress worker, the former CM passed away in Bengaluru.

Chandy, who always stood out in his trademark white cotton shirt and dhoti worn usually with a cordial smile, breathed his last at a private hospital in Bengaluru early this morning. Chandy was undergoing treatment in Bengaluru for the past few months.

Ever since he cut his political teeth as an activist of the Congress's Kerala Students Union in the early 1960s, Chandy had remained a key player in Kerala politics. Chandy had played a decisive role in building Congress as a mass movement in Kerala, along with senior colleagues A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi.

The 79-year-old leader had a sterling record in Kerala politics, returning to the state Assembly 53 years in a row from his home constituency. He was first elected from Puthuppally on a Congress ticket in 1970.

Puthupally, under the stewardship of Chandy, was the only Constituency left untouched by the political shifts that the state witnessed for more than half a century. Vijayan Joseph, a local resident, told the media that Chandy was the pulse of Puthuppally.

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