IIt was the eve of the Kerala assembly elections in 2016. Congress ticket aspirants and their fans thronged Kerala House on Jantar Mantar Road as screening committee meetings were held in New Delhi to finalize the list of candidates. conversation turned to A impasse Oommen Chandy as chief minister was not responsible for the removal of any sitting minister or MLA on the orders of then Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief VM Sudheeran, supported by Rahul Gandhi.
With no sign of a ceasefire by the seventh day, Chandy offered his ministers to walk out if they were not given tickets and went to Puthupalli, his constituency adjoining Kochi and Kottayam, to continue his meeting with voters. Flew. As a Puthuppally MLA for the last 53 years, a well-known routine, Chandy made himself available in his constituency and met as many people as possible every Sunday. In any case, Chandy kept that date ritualistically until the last days of his career, when he had to be taken to Bengaluru for treatment earlier this year.
And as in 2016, Chandy had the last laugh when Rahul Gandhi’s wishes were rejected outright, and though he lost the election, two of his unique qualities came to the fore in this improbable episode: Chandy valued loyalty over everything else. above all and will risk everything for those loyal to him; He was a true mass leader and not just a PR phenomenon. Oommen Chandy, who breathed his last in Bengaluru this morning, was 79 and served as the Chief Minister of Kerala twice.
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a long career
Chandy’s political debut was even before his lifelong partner AK Antony, when MA John pulled him out of school for participating in it. Ornama Samaram (An Anna strike) was launched in 1958 by the Kerala Students Union (the predecessor of the National Students Union of India) against the EMS Namboodiripad government’s decision to nationalize Kerala’s water transport services. Within a decade, he became the state president of KSU. Defeated PC Chacko in 1967 and in 1970 in the State Youth Congress.
The split in the Congress in late 1969 ensured that the Young Turks led by Vayalar Ravi and AK Antony moved into leadership roles in Kerala. In 1970, when Chandy got the ticket from Puthuppally at the age of 26, it was not the Congress bastion it is today. Chandy won the triangular contest and the rest, as they say, is history.
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shadow of ak antony
One quality that always held Chandy in good stead was his ability to respect his time. Forever AK Antony’s bridegroom and lieutenant, Chandy waited patiently for her turn to emerge as the number one figure in Kerala politics, until Antony’s resignation in 2004. Often, this came at a personal cost as was the case in 1982 and 2001, when there were none. A place for Chandy in the cabinet of Karunakaran and Antony respectively. Even when differences broke out between Vayalar Ravi and AK Antony, Chandy remained loyal to Antony and led the ‘A’ faction with all his might.
There came a time in 2001 when it seemed Chandy had been outdone, when the Congress ‘high command’ brokered a deal in the run-up to the assembly elections, appointing Karunakaran’s son K Muraleedharan as PCC chief on the same day. The day Antony took over. as CM. Due to the communal equation and Karunakaran’s insistence on the inclusion of KV Thomas in the Antony cabinet, Chandy could not get any ministry.
Chandy astutely took up the post of convenor of the United Democratic Front (UDF), a position he had previously held in the early 80s when he could not carve out a ministry for himself in the third Karunakaran government (1982–87) . In those days there were political cartoonists like Raju Nair Deepika The daily was often depicted with compassion as its leitmotif.
When Karunakaran began a one-sided battle with Antony shortly afterwards, Chandy was once again in trouble as he gradually alienated MLAs from the Karunakaran faction to ensure the stability of that government.
Finally, when in 2004 the Congress was defeated in Kerala due to a power struggle that spilled onto the streets – it even managed to unseat the Vajpayee government in New Delhi – Antony’s resignation brought Chandy back to power. paved the way for It was the result of a long and arduous journey in the shadow of Antony.
legacy as CM
In his first term as Chief Minister of Kerala from 2004–06, Chandy tried to build his image as a clean politician, keeping away from the cabinet ‘tainted’ heavyweights such as R Balakrishna Pillai and TM Jacob, against whom He had grievances from the past. , Though Chandy survived then due to strength of numbers, it came back to haunt him in 2011 when he ran the government for five years with a slim majority (72-68).
However, this did not stop him from emerging as a popular leader with several development programmes. Chandy’s ‘public contact’ programme, where he met people directly in every district, won him a United Nations (UN) award. public service award in 2013. That was the high point of his career when analysts predicted that Chandy was on course to win another term.
solar scandal The word spread – even though Chandy was away to receive the award – ensured that he did not do so. Chandy defied demands for his resignation, claiming that he had a clear conscience. Eventually, Chandy was acquitted of wrongdoing in the case, but it was too late, the end of his career had come. As former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh once famously said, history proved kinder to Chandy than the ‘media trial’ of the time.
air of simplicity
A remarkable aspect of Chandy’s leadership was his humble nature. He took his positions lightly and in that sense he was truly a democrat. Chandy was always seen among people and often joked that it was easier to speak in private in a crowd than to speak in private.
During his early days as an MLA in the 70s, Chandy traveled from Kottayam to Thiruvananthapuram in a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus in the early hours, and grabbed a wink lying on top of the bundles. Malayala Manorama in the back. Soon after that he managed to get an Ambassador car. However, Chandy will continue to take buses from Kottayam to Thiruvananthapuram.
Even after being the Chief Minister twice, Chandy had that sense of simplicity that people used to connect with him easily. Not that Chandy was above reproach but perhaps it is better to leave that for another day.
The author is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. He tweets @AnandKuchukudy. Thoughts are personal.
(Editing by Anurag Choubey)