Oommen Chandy
Oommen Chandy ഉമ്മന് ചാണ്ടി | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chief Minister of Kerala | |
| Assumed office May 18, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | V.S. Achuthanandan |
| Constituency | Puthuppally |
| Personal details | |
| Born | txt October 31, 1943 Puthuppally, Travancore, Indian Empire |
| Died | txt , Kerala |
| Resting place | txt , Kerala |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouses | Mariamma Oommen |
| Children | 1 son and 2 daughters |
| Parent |
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| Residences | Puthuppally, Kerala |
| Website | http://www.oommenchandy.net |
As of Nov 2, 2007 Source: Govt. of Kerala | |
Oommen Chandy (Malayalam: ഉമ്മന് ചാണ്ടി) (born 31 October 1943 in Puthuppally, Travancore, Indian Empire) is an Indian politician and the current Chief Minister of Kerala. He has held the Chief Minister of Kerala position earlier from 2004 to 2006, and was the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011.[1]
Early life
Oommen Chandy or 'Kunjoonju' was born to K.O. Chandy and Baby Chandy. Born in an upper class affluent Christian family at Puthuppally, Chandy ventured into the political arena as an activist of Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the party. He was the unit president of KSU at St George High School, Puthupally, and went on to become the State President of the organization. Chandy completed his college education from CMS College, Kottayam, SB College, Changanassery. Later, he took a bachelors degree in law (LLB) from Government Law College, Ernakulam.He is also a trade unionist and heads several INTUC affiliated outfits.
Political life
Chandy started his political career through the Kerala Students Union (KSU), which he served as president from 1967 to 1969. He was elected as the president of the State Youth Congress in 1970.
He has represented Puthuppally Constituency for decades, having been elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011. During his long legislative career he had also served as the Chairman of Public Accounts Committe during 1996-98.
| Election Victories | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Closest rival | Majority (votes) | |
| 1970 | E.M.George (CPM) | 7,288 | |
| 1977 | P.C.Cherian (BLD) | 15,910 | |
| 1980 | M.R.G.Panicker (NDP) | 13,659 | |
| 1982 | Thomas Rajan (ICS) | 15,983 | |
| 1987 | V.N.Vasavan (CPM) | 9,164 | |
| 1991 | V.N.Vasavan (CPM) | 13,811 | |
| 1996 | Reji Zacharia (CPM) | 10,155 | |
| 2001 | Cherian Philip (CPM Ind.) | 12,575 | |
| 2006 | Sindu Joy (CPM) | 19,863 | |
| 2011 | Suja Susan George (CPM) | 33,255 | |
Minister
Chandy sworn as a minister in Kerala for four times. He was the Minister for Labour from 11.04.1977 to 25.04.1977 in the first K. Karunakaran Ministry and continued holding the same portfolio in the succeeding first A.K. Antony Ministry till 27.10.1978. He was in the charge of Home portfolio in the second K. Karunakaran Ministry from 28.12.1981 to 17.03.1982. Again, he was sworn in as a minister in the fourth K.Karunakaran Ministry on July 02, 1991. He was in charge of Finance Portfolio and resigned from the cabinet on 22.06.1994 due to difference with the Chief Minister.
Minister in different ministries Sl No. Ministry Portfolio Period 1. 1st K.Karunakaran Labour 11.04.1977 - 25.04.1977 2. 1st A.K.Antony Labour 27.04.1977 - 27.10.1978 3. 2nd K.Karunakaran Home 28.12.1981 - 17.03.1982 4. 4th K.Karunakaran Finance 02.07.1991 - 22.06.1994Chief Minister 2004-2006
The results of the parliamentary elections in May 2004 saw the Indian National Congress not winning a single seat in Kerala. The sitting Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, was forced to resign and accept responsibility for the poor results. On 30 August 2004, Oommen was elected the Congress Legislature Party leader at the end of a meeting by AICC observers and clearance by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. In what may be seen as a reflection of his work as Chief Minister, the Congress-led alliance was defeated, but managed to retain 40 out of 140 seats in the assembly and boost its vote-share by nearly 10% after the general election rout. He resigned as Chief Minister on May 12, 2006 following the defeat of his party in 2006 Assembly Elections.
Leader of Opposition
Oommen Chandy is the leader of opposition in the twelfth Kerala Legislative Assembly. Under his leadership UDF marked victories in Lok Sabha Election 2009 and Local Body Election 2010. In the history of Kerala politics it's first time that UDF got an upper hand in local body elections.
Leader of Congress Parliamentary Party
After winning the close contested 2011 assembly election, Congress legislative party unanimously electerd Oommen Chandy as it's leader. At the Congress Legislature Party meeting, Mr. Chandy's name was proposed by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala and seconded by Aryadan Mohammed. The election process was formally launched after Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Mohsina Kidwai and AICC general secretary Madhusoodan Mistry, who is in charge of Kerala, held a one-to-one meeting in their capacity as observers with the 38 elected MLAs.
Chief Minister from 2011 May
The results of the parliamentary elections in May 2011 saw the UDF win by a narrow margin with a 2 seat majority to the opposition and Oomen Chandy serving a second term as a Chief Minister. He took the oath on 18-05-2011 with six other ministers of his cabinet.[2]
"Kunjunju Kathakal, Alpam Kariyengalum"
"Kunjunju Kathakal, Alpam Kariyengalum" is about little nuggets from the life of Oommen Chandy which is written by his press secretary P.T. Chacko. One of the most interesting accounts in the book is about congress leaders A.K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi, Chandy and V.M. Sudheeran travelling on the back of a lorry some time in the late 1960s when they found the only way to travel was in a lorry and jumped into one.
There are soe other intrestinf instances like In another instance, in 1966 when Antony was Youth Congress president and Chandy the secretary, the former had arrived at Kottayam to take part in a meeting. Antony told Chandy that he was hungry and both went to a nearby hotel for food, assuming the other would have money to foot the bill.
But they soon realised that neither had any money. After hanging out for a while, wondering what to do, Chandy chanced upon a neighbour of his who bailed them out!
The book contains several other interesting episodes from the life of Chandy who remains one of Kerala`s most popular leaders. The book was published by DC Books.