Thiruvananthapuram: All roads in Kerala are leading to the ancestral house of two-time former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at Puthupally in Kottayam district.
Speaker after speaker paying tributes to Chandy ended up in tears while recalling their association with him. His humility was his strength and he had no airs unlike the modern day politicians.
Spotted at the house was a 75 year old invalid person who arrived from about 40 kms away. Breaking into tears he said , God should have taken his life and not Chandy’s.
“ In 2014 I came and met Chandy and said since I am an invalid, I wanted to get a tri-scooter so I could eke out a living by selling lottery tickets and he gave me one. My wish now is God should have taken my life instead of Chandy’s,” said the aged man.
His long time staffer Chandran said when Chandy became a state minister in 1977, I was on his staff and after my retirement I used to meet him on and off. A few years back when he came next door to my house, I told him that my neighbor’s daughter had got admission in medicine but they are extremely poor.
“ I told him that if he doesn’t help them in some way the next day he will have to hear the news of their mass suicide. He was taken aback and told me to get in touch with him the next day. We went and met him and he had made arrangements and the girl is now a doctor,” said Chandran.
Chandy’s political career began as a student leader of the Kerala Students Union – the political arm of the Congress in the sixties and rose to become one of the most respected and loved political personality in Kerala.
He won his first election in 1970 from his home constituency Puthupally in Kottayam district. When he passed away, he was the sitting legislator from the same constituency and was an MLA for an uninterrupted 53 years.
Suja Susan George, the CPI-M candidate against him in 2011, recalled some moments when she wrote in her Facebook page that it was only after thinking over it many times that she decided to contest against him.
“ The only solace I had was I was contesting against Oommen Chandy and I was certain that during the election campaign, he will never ever allow me to be maligned. I have a lot to reminiscence about him,” wrote George who lost by over 33,000 votes and Chandy went on to become Chief Minister a second time.
When he was the Chief Minister in his second tenure he had gone to a state run school in North Kerala and after the visit he was walking back to his car when, a small boy called, “Oommen Chandy” and he came to the side of the boy.
Then the boy said to him, his best friend has no house and they want to have one. Chandy assured him he will look into it and true to his word, he kept his promise.
The house was completed when he had demitted office, but when he was invited to visit, he came to the small house.
In another incident last year when his ailment had become serious he decided to take part in a meeting at the Secretariat at the office of a state minister.
Generally a former Chief Minister rarely attends such meetings and arriving close to the Secretariat his vehicle was unable to go forward due to a blockade.
He got out of the car and started to walk towards the office of the minister.
Soon a crowd gathered around him and talking with them he continued to walk and by the time he reached the office, it had turned into a huge crowd.
Chandy then turned and waved to the crowd and walked into the office.
After demitting office in 2016, a few pictures of Chandy had gone viral including one where he was sleeping on a berth in a second class train carriage. Another one was where he was seen travelling on a state bus to the capital.
His long time party colleague and veteran Congress legislator Ramesh Chennithala said they have had a long association and there were times when they had contrasting opinions, but that was never an impediment to their relations.
“ Chandy will go down as the politician in Kerala who has attended the maximum number of weddings and funerals across the state, such was his rapport with the people,” said Chennithala.
The Pinarayi Vijayan government has decided to honour his wish, which his family members have conveyed that Chandy had instructed that there should be no official functions when he passes away.
The only official gesture is his body will be placed in the Durbar Hall of the Secretariat for a while . His body, according to his family, will be flown from Bengaluru to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram and the funeral is being planned to be held at Puthupally on Thursday.
(IANS)
