Oommen Chandy

Oommen Chandy
Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly for Puthuppally
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 May 1970
Preceded by	E. M. George
Chief Minister of Kerala
In office 18 May 2011 – 20 May 2016
Preceded by	V.S. Achuthanandan
Succeeded by	Pinarayi Vijayan
Constituency	Puthuppally
In office 31 August 2004 – 12 May 2006
Preceded by	A. K. Antony
Succeeded by	V. S. Achuthanandan
Constituency	Puthuppally
Minister of Home Affairs, Kerala
In office 18 May 2011 – 13 April 2012
Chief Minister	himself
Preceded by	Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
Succeeded by	Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan
In office 31 August 2004 – 12 May 2006
Chief Minister	himself
Preceded by	A. K. Antony
Succeeded by	Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
In office 28 December 1981 – 17 March 1982
Chief Minister	K. Karunakaran
Preceded by	T.K. Ramakrishnan
Succeeded by	Vayalar Ravi
Minister of Finance, Kerala
In office 10 November 2015 – 20 May 2016
Chief Minister	himself
Preceded by	K.M. Mani
Succeeded by	T.M. Thomas Isaac
In office 2 July 1991 – 22 June 1994
Chief Minister	K. Karunakaran
Preceded by	V. Viswanatha Menon
Succeeded by	C.V. Padmarajan
Leader of the Opposition of the Kerala Legislative Assembly
In office 18 May 2006 – 14 May 2011
Governor	R. L. Bhatia R. S. Gavai
Preceded by	V.S. Achuthanandan
Succeeded by	V.S. Achuthanandan
General Secretary Indian National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 06 June 2018
Personal details
Born	(1943-10-31) 31 October 1943 Puthuppally, Travancore, British India
Spouse(s)	Mariamma Oommen
Children	Chandy Oommen, Maria Oommen and Achu Oommen
Residence	Puthuppally, Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
Website	www.oommenchandy.net
As of 9 April, 2014 Source:

Oommen Chandy is an Indian statesman and senior leader of the Indian National Congress party. He served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for two terms, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016.^[1] He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011.^[2] He has represented Puthuppally as MLA in the State Assembly since 1970. On 6 June 2018 Congress President Rahul Gandhi appointed him as General Secretary of All India Congress Committee in charge of the crucial state of Andhra Pradesh. He is now the Congress Working Committee member .

Early life

Oommen Chandy was born at Kumarakom, Kottayam district, Kerala in 1943.

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, St. Berchmans College, Changanassery. Later, he took a bachelor's degree in law (LL.B) from Government Law College, Ernakulam.

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 the Puthuppally Constituency for decades, having been elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. During his legislative career he had also served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee during 1996–98.

Minister

Chandy has been 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 till 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. Again, he was sworn in as a minister in the fourth K.Karunakaran Ministry on 2 July 1991. He was in charge of Finance Portfolio and resigned from the cabinet on 22 June 1994 due to difference with the Chief Minister.

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, Chandy 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 12 May 2006 following the defeat of his party in 2006 Assembly Elections.

Leader of Opposition

Oommen Chandy 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, and Local Body Election 2010. In the history of Kerala politics it's the first time that the UDF got an upper hand in local body elections.

Leader of Congress Parliamentary Party

After winning the closely contested 2011 assembly election, Congress legislative party unanimously elected Oommen Chandy as its leader. At the Congress Legislature Party meeting, Chandy's name was proposed by, 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 Madhusudan Mistry, who is in charge of Kerala, held a one-to-one meeting in their capacity as observers with the 38 elected MLAs.

Second term as Chief Minister, 2011-2016

Kerala CM Oommen Chandy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

UDF (United Democratic Front) led by Oommen Chandy secured a slender margin in assembly election which held on 13 April 2011. UDF candidates won in 72 seats against 68 seats of LDF (Left Democratic Front). 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.

He gave up Vigilance Portfolio in early August 2011, after a fresh probe was ordered on the Palmolein oil case, which happened when he was Finance Minister in 1992.^[3]

Awards and honours

Oommen Chandy received the 2013 United Nations Public Service Award^[6][7][8] from the Asia-Pacific region, for the category "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."

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oommen Chandy.

• The website of Oommen Chandy