Oommen Chandy’s demise: Sonia Gandhi, Rahul pay last respects

BENGALURU: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and top party leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who are in Bengaluru for the mega Opposition party meet, on Tuesday paid their last respects to Oommen Chandy where he passed away earlier this morning.

Earlier, leaders along with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar visited the house in Indiranagar in the city, where the mortal remains of the former Kerala chief minister were kept, to pay their homage.

“Oommen Chandy ji was an exemplary grassroots Congress leader. He will be remembered for his lifelong service to the people of Kerala. We will miss him dearly. Much love and condolences to all his loved ones,” Rahul Gandhi posted on Twitter.

Congress leaders from Kerala including Benny Behanan and KC Joseph as well as Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty earlier visited the Chinmaya Mission Hospital here where the veteran leader passed away.

The mortal remains of Chandy will be shifted from Chinmaya Mission Hospital in Bengaluru to Thiruvananthapuram later today through an air ambulance. The funeral will be held at St George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally at 2 pm on Thursday, the party said.

Karnataka CM said that Oommen Chandy's passing away is a loss to the country

“It’s a great loss to the country. He's a great leader who won 12 times from the same constituency. Whole of Kerala loves him. We lost a great person. It’s the biggest loss to Kerala, Congress, and the nation. I've met him many times when I was CM before. He was a very decent politician. My condolences to his family”

Oommen Chandy passed away at Chinmaya Hospital in Bengaluru at 4.25 am on Tuesday. In a Facebook post, Chandy's son announced the leader's demise, stating, "Appa has passed away."

The 79-year-old leader had been undergoing treatment at a health facility in Bengaluru.

Oommen Chandy represented the Puthupally constituency in Kottayam district for more than 50 years.

He was the MLA from Puthupally. Chandy first represented Puthupally in 1970 when he was the Youth Congress president. He became a minister for the first time in the K Karunakaran Cabinet in 1977.

He was appointed Chief Minister twice. He had handled the finance portfolio in the state. He had also been the Leader of Opposition.