KOCHI: With three Assembly elections to his credit, the public life of the political heavyweight from Kuttanad Thomas Chandy alias Kuwait Chandy was always disparate, albeit controversial. One of his first tryst of this kind came in 2002 when the Kuwait First Instance Court told him to pay a fine of KD 500 as he and two other Keralites were found guilty of misappropriation of a sum of around Rs 42 crore from the Indian School at Salmia in Kuwait about 25 years ago.
Chandy, along with Mathew Philip - another accused, was arrested in Kuwait after the news broke. However, Chandy in a quick move, secured a bail paying back Kuwait Dinar 85,000 (about Rs 1.05 crore), part of the loot reportedly shared by the trio while Philip had to languish in a Kuwait jail for more than two years.
Just 14 days younger to Independent India, Chandy left the country for the Middle East after earning a diploma in Telecommunication Engineering and a stint in student politics. After establishing a business empire in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, consisting of institutions in education and hospitality, Chandy resurfaced in his waterlocked native as a social worker who liberally contributed to many social causes.
Chandy’s bonhomie with the late Congress leader K Karunakaran helped him get a seat in his home turf as the candidate of DIC(K) and emerged as its lone MLA as a part of the UDF in 2006. He switched over to the LDF as the party was merged with the NCP and ensured his way to the Assembly as its candidate in the 2011 elections. He landed safely in 2016, despite a heavy campaign from the NDA to become the richest MLA in the Assembly with assets of over Rs 92 crore.
He almost embarrassed the LDF with a statement prior to the elections, that he would be the next minister for water resources. However, the party was denied the portfolio and, Chandy was denied a ministership, despite a section in the party batting for him. Though the state head of the party vowed there would not be any change in the Cabinet, a controversial sleaze tape leaked by a TV Channel forced its minister A K Saseendran to resign on March 26, 2017. Chandy was swiftly sworn in as a Transport Minister on April 1.
In August, following allegations that Chandy’s resort in Alappuzha had encroached land and paddyfields, the state government entrusted the District Collector to initiate a probe. He chose to ignore the demand for his resignation from various corners, including a section of the LDF. A beleaguered Chandy approached the Kerala High Court against the Collector’s report only to be reprimanded by it on Tuesday, a day before his resignation.