Oommen Chandy (31 October 1943 – 18 July 2023) was an Indian lawyer and statesman who served as the tenth chief minister of Kerala, serving from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016. He served also as the leader of the opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011.
He represented Puthuppally constituency as a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the State Assembly from 1970 until his death in 2023, making him the longest-serving member of the Kerala Legislature Assembly. He received an award for public service from the United Nations in 2013.
In 2018, he was appointed the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee, in charge of the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was also a Congress Working Committee member at the time of his death.
Oommen Chandy was born on 31 October 1943 in Kumarakom, Kottayam district, as the son of Baby and K. O. Chandy, of Karottu Vallakkalil house.
He was named after his paternal grandfather, V. J. Oommen (Vallakkalil), a member of the Travancore Legislative Council. Oommen ventured into the political arena as an activist of Kerala's largest student organisation Kerala Students Union, the student wing of the Indian National Congress. He was the unit president of the KSU at St. George High School, Puthupally, and went on to become the state president of the organisation.
Oommen completed his pre-university course from CMS College, Kottayam and received a B.A. in economics from St. Berchmans College, Changanassery. Later, he earned a bachelor's degree in law (LL.B) from the Government Law College, Ernakulam.
Oommen started his political career through the Kerala Students Union, in which he served as president from 1967 to 1969. He was elected as the president of the State Youth Congress in 1970.
Oommen represented the Puthuppally constituency for five decades, having been elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021. During his legislative career, he also served as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee from 1996 to 1998.
Oommen Chandy was a minister in the Government of Kerala on four occasions. He was the minister for Labour from 11 April 1977 to 25 April 1977 in the first K. Karunakaran ministry and continued holding the same portfolio in the succeeding first A. K. Antony ministry until 27 October 1978. He was in the charge of Home Portfolio in the second K. Karunakaran ministry from 28 December 1981 to 17 March 1982. He was sworn in again as a minister in the fourth K. Karunakaran ministry on 2 July 1991. He was in charge of the Finance Portfolio and resigned from the cabinet on 22 June 1994 as a protest against Karunakaran's denial of a Rajya Sabha ticket to a factional leader.
Oommen Chandy was a minister in the following ministries:
First term as chief 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 as the Congress Legislature Party leader at the end of a meeting by AICC observers and clearance by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. The Congress-led alliance was defeated but managed to retain 42 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 12 May 2006 following the defeat of his party in 2006 Assembly Elections.
Second term as chief minister (2011–2016)
UDF, led by Oommen Chandy, secured a slender margin of majority in the assembly election held on 13 April 2011 by winning 72 seats against the 68 seats of the LDF. He took the oath on 18 May 2011 with six other ministers of his cabinet. Later, thirteen other ministers were also inducted into his cabinet.
Oommen was the leader of opposition in the twelfth Kerala Legislative Assembly. Under his leadership, UDF marked victories in Lok Sabha Election 2009, gaining 16 out of 20 parliament constituencies in Kerala. UDF also got an upper hand in local body elections.
Leader of Congress Parliamentary Party
After winning the closely contested 2011 assembly election, Congress's legislative party unanimously elected Oommen as its leader.
Oommen Chandy received the 2013 United Nations Public Service Award for the Asia-Pacific region, for "Preventing and Combating Corruption in the Public Service." The award was presented on 27 June 2013, in Manama, Bahrain, by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo. The award was based on the theme "Transformative e-Government and Innovation: Creating a Better Future for All".