THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the Kottayam DCC commemorates former chief minister Oommen Chandy’s 50th year as a legislator representing Puthupally assembly constituency, he will be taking a crucial decision regarding his health. For quite some time, the 76-year-old senior Congress leader has been postponing the surgery for removing the polyps in his throat. A decision on when and where the surgery has to be done will be taken by he and his family members on Friday.
Ever since Oommen Chandy came to know of Kottayam DCC’s plans to organise a relaunch pad for their ‘Kunjoonju’ in state politics on Thursday, he has shown his uneasiness to have it cancelled. Whenever his close circle of friends like MLAs Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and K C Joseph were approached to know of the programme, they brushed it off as a low-key affair, fearing the wrath of their Kunjoonju.
The crowd puller did kick up a ruckus, but finally he relented after it was agreed that he will go and meet his voters in all eight panchayats of Puthupally constituency from 10am to 2pm on Thursday. Oommen Chandy’s family members are also expected to come down to Kottayam to witness the event at Mammen Mappillai Hall.
A source close to Oommen Chandy told TNIE that his friends and family members are keen to take him abroad for his throat surgery. “In fact, the AICC leadership has also put pressure on him to undergo surgery at the earliest. But Oommen Chandy is keen to have the surgery done in a hospital here itself,” said the source.The polyps in his throat were identified first during 2015 and later in 2019 for which he had undergone treatment in the US.