Oomen Chandy’s passing leaves Congress bereft

Oommen Chandy: A leader whose strategic acumen, diplomatic skills, bipartisan camaraderie & empathy steered UDF out of crises. His tactical gambit of fielding Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in 2019 helped UDF win 19 of 20 LS seats in Kerala. He was a genial, compassionate & liberal antithesis to many combative leaders.

Late Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s genial affability and natural authority gained through five demanding decades in parliamentary politics had often helped hold the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition together, even when its grip on power was tenuous, as in 2011-16 when it won the Assembly elections by a slender margin.

The 79-year-old veteran’s passing at a hospital in Bengaluru after a two-year battle with cancer seemed to have left Congress bereft at a challenging time as it readies for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Mr. Chandy’s election to the Legislative Assembly from the Puthuppally constituency in the Kottayam district catapulted him to the centre stage of Congress politics in Kerala in the 1970s. He served the constituency for the next 53 years. Puthupally never broke faith with him since.

Mr. Chandy was the Chief Minister from 2004 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2016. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2011.

As 100s of people streamed into Mr. Chandy’s residence in the capital to pay their last respects, the Congress party mourned the loss of a leader whose almost magical combination of strategy, craftiness, tactics, diplomacy and bipartisan camaraderie steered the UDF out of tight spots and political crises.

Many believe Mr. Chandy’s tactical gambit of fielding Rahul Gandhi from the Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections had helped the UDF bag 19 of the 20 parliamentary seats in the State.

For the common folk far removed from the halls of power, Mr. Chandy came across as a genial, compassionate and liberal antithesis to several combative and stand-offish leaders of his time.