Oommen Chandy Passes Away: Life and times of a master of political tactics
Former Chief Minister of Kerala and Congress stalwart Oommen Chandy passed away on Tuesday (July 18) in Bengaluru. His mortal remains will be brought to Thiruvananthapuram today and the funeral will be held on July 20.
FollowThe demise of Oommen Chandy has come as a major setback for the Congress party. The Congress stalwart had a myriad of roles and responsibilities in his political career, ranging from being Kerala's finance minister to the state's chief minister. Let's retrace the life and times of Oomen Chandy
There was an era when K Karunakaran shone within Kerala's Congress party. Oommen Chandy entered the first tier of leadership by triggering an uproar within the party at a period when Karunakaran's dignified Kerala politics were well-liked both inside and outside the party. The group war peaked in 1991, with Karunakaran on one side and the AK Antony-Oommen Chandy faction on the other.
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Oommen Chandy served as the Finance Minister in K Karunakaran's government in 1991. The state suffered a loss of Rs 2.32 crore then due to the signing of a disputed palm oil import agreement, which for a very long time cast Karunakaran in a shadow of suspicion.
Following the altercation, MA Kuttappan, who had declared battle on Karunakaran over the rejection of a Rajya Sabha seat, resigned from his position as finance minister on June 16, 1994. He took the initiative in the infamous ISRO espionage case in 1994-1995 to take on K Karunakaran.
K Karunakaran finally resigned as chief minister on March 16, 1995. Antony was sworn in as the next chief minister on March 22. And then, Congress saw the rise of Oommen Chandy within the party.
Antony's ministry was re-elected in 2000. Chandy was appointed as the UDF convener. Due to the Karunakaran-led rebellion, the Congress party failed to deliver even one MP from Kerala in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Antony resigned as chief minister on August 31, 2004, accepting responsibility for the Lok Sabha election loss. Chandy became the chief minister.
From 2006 to 2011, Chandy served as the Legislative Assembly's Leader of the Opposition. He was once again elected Chief Minister after the UDF won the majority in the 2011 assembly elections by a margin of two seats.
In 2011, he defeated his CPI-M rival, Suja Susan George. In 2016, he defeated LDF candidate Jake C Thomas to win the Puthupally seat in the Legislative Assembly for the 11th time. The UDF won the majority in the 2011 assembly elections by a margin of 2 seats. The Congress gained one extra seat by defeating Selvaraj from the Left front. After the court directed a vigilance probe into Chandy in the Palm Oil scam case, the vigilance department was handed over to Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan on August 9, 2011. Following the cabinet reshuffle on April 12, 2012, the charge of the Home Department was also handed over to Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan.
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Chandy's personal and political lives were tainted by the solar case. His administration's credibility was destroyed by the decision not to renew the licences of 713 bars, followed by the bar bribery accusations made against Finance Minister KM Mani by Kerala Bar Hotel Owners Association Working President Biju Ramesh and his forced resignation as a minister following the High Court's referral.
Chandy played a big role in making the Kochi Metro Rail project a reality. He worked together with the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for the release of Malayalam nurses held captive by IS terrorists in Iraq.
Former Press Secretary PT Chackopublished a book titled 'Baby Stories - A Little Things' highlighting the interesting moments in Chandy's life. On September 17, 2020, it marked half a century of Chandy as an MLA. The Congress High Command entrusted Oommen Chandy with the leadership of the Congress Oversight and Strategy Formation Committee for the 2021 assembly elections. In the 2021 assembly elections, he won the Puthupally constituency with a majority of 9044 votes.
Also read: Who was Oommen Chandy? 9 things to know about late Congress stalwart
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