Former Kerala Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy passed away in Bengaluru early on Tuesday morning. His son took to social media to share the news of his demise.
“Appa has passed away”, he wrote on his Facebook page, without elaborating.
79-year-old Oommen Chandy had been availing medical treatment in the Karnataka capital since the past few months.
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.
He was the chief minister for a total of seven years, once from 2004–2006 and then again from 2011–2016.
Chandy had also 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.
Representing Puthuppally constituency, Chandy served as the MLA for more than half a century setting the record for the longest tenure.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan, Union Minister V Muraleedharan, and leaders of various political parties condoled Chandy’s demise.
