Crowd puller, man of masses departs, Kerala in tears

NT Bureau, Agencies

Thiruvananthapuram/ Bengaluru: Thousands of people paid homage to Congress stalwart and former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who passed away in Bengaluru in the early hours of Tuesday.

The death of the former Kerala Chief Minister was announced by his son, Chandy Oommen, in a Face book post which said, "Appa has passed away."

The 79-year old leader, who served as the Chief Minister of Kerala twice, breathed his last in a private hospital in Bengaluru at 4.25 AM. His end came while undergoing treatment for cancer, party sources said.He is survived by his wife Mariamma Oommen and three children.

A crowd puller of the Congress in Kerala, Chandy's mortal remains were brought to Thiruvananthapuram from Bengaluru in a special aircraft in the afternoon.

Earlier, Chandy's 'Puthuppally House' here witnessed an emotional scene when veteran Congress leader and former Defence Minister A K Antony broke down while paying homage to his comrade in arms.

The funeral would be held there on Thursday. CM Pinarayi Vijayan said only a rare few, in the history of world politics, have been able to achieve the feat of being repeatedly elected to the assembly for more than five decades.