Former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy Passes Away

Bengaluru: Former Kerala chief minister and Congress Working Committee member Oommen Chandy breathed his last in a hospital in Bengaluru on Tuesday morning. He was 79.

His son and Congress leader Chandy Oommen posted about his death on Facebook around 4.30 am, “Appa has passed away”, without elaborating.

Chandy had been undergoing treatment for cancer since 2019.

His mortal remains will be flown to Thiruvananthapuram, where it will be kept at the Congress State Committee office and later at the Darbar hall of the Secretariat for people to pay their homage. The funeral will be held at Puthuppally in Kottayam on Thursday, reports said.

Chandy had served as Minister of Labour, Home, and Finance in various governments headed by K Karunakaran and A K Antony. He also served as the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly. He was the chief minister twice for a total of seven years (2004–2006 and again from 2011–2016).

The Kerala government has announced Tuesday as a public holiday and two days’ mourning as a mark of respect to the late former chief minister.