KOCHI: Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was a leader who deeply understood the people's needs and implemented changes quietly, Congress working committee member and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said. "He did not claim to be God or God's representative. He did not claim to be non-biological, or Paramatma sent to Kerala. He was an average member of Congress party who went up step by step, learning from his experiences. Once he understood what the people needed, he implemented it silently," Chidambaram said. He was delivering the inaugural address of an event organized by the Youth Congress state committee to commemorate Oommen Chandy in Kochi on Sunday.
The CWC member highlighted that Oommen Chandy experimented with numerous ideas. "Infact he is credited with many major projects which are now signature of Kerala. Kannur airport, Kochi metro, Vizhinjam Port (where the first ship arrived a few days ago), Smart City, Techno Park in Thiruvananthapuram, the National University of Advanced Legal Studies in Kochi, and the Indian Institute of Technology in Palakkad are all bears the signature of Oommen Chandy," Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram emphasized that loyalty to a party means loyalty to its core principles, and positions come and go. "Sometimes the Congress party makes mistakes and deviates from its core principles, but we should quickly return to them and embody the DNA of the party. We believe in equality, liberty of thought, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of writing, and secularism. In a country with the largest population in the world, everything we do must benefit the welfare of the lowest man in society."
Commenting on the switching of party leaders, Chidambaram questioned how anyone who believes in one set of principles can immediately switch to another party's core principles. "It is happening all over India, and it happened in Kerala a few weeks ago."
He added that the kind of farewell given to Oommen Chandy is the biggest tribute anyone can give to a human being.
"It is rare for anyone to maintain the faith and trust of the same constituency for 50 years across three generations of voters. It's not easy to be a political leader in Kerala. Kerala is an example of fierce political contestation. Every idea, policy, statement, proposal, scheme is fiercely and hotly contested in Kerala. It is a real battle of political ideas in India," Chidambaram added.
The first Oommen Chandy Memorial Award, instituted by the Youth Congress Kerala unit, was bestowed upon former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Praising the Youth Congress for selecting Singh for the award, Chidambaram said Singh brought the idea of economic freedom. "India's reawakening is entirely due to Manmohan Singh. Now everybody accepts liberalization. He introduced the concept of economic freedom in addition to political freedom," Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram also recalled that Manmohan Singh did not believe he would be inducted as Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao cabinet until the morning of the oath-taking ceremony. "He did not change three suits a day," Chidambaram added.