THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Capital city of Kerala bid farewell to former chief minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday morning when his body was taken to Kottayam. Hundreds thronged on the sides of the road to pay homage to a leader who lived among the masses.
When Oommen Chandy's body was brought to Indira Bhavan on Tuesday around 10 pm from St George Orthodox Church, several thousands of ordinary party workers and leaders thronged to catch a glimpse of him. Braving the drizzling, they jostled to see him. The Police and the Seva Dal workers had a hard time controlling them.
CWC leader A K Antony, national general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal, Congress state president K Sudhakaran, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, senior leader Ramesh Chennithala, senior Congress MPs K Muraleedharan, Kodikunnil Suresh, Benny Behanan and Anto Antony, former Congress state president Mullapally Ramachandran, veteran leader Thennala Balakrishna Pillai and scores of other leaders and party workers thronged Indira Bhavan until the body was shifted to Puthupally House at 12:30 am.
On Wednesday, an ambulance carried Oommen Chandy's body from Puthupally House to the main road at Poojappura at 7:15 am. Puthupally House was swarmed with people from all walks of life. People shouted slogans in favour of Oommen Chandy and some of them told television channels that they were not Congress supporters, but always saw Oommen Chandy as a leader with a humane heart who listened patiently to the woes of the people.
The KSRTC bus carrying Oommen Chandy's body saw Satheesan, Chennithala, UDF convener M M Hassan, MPs Benny Behanan, Kodikunnil Suresh, Anto Antony and Dean Kuriakose, senior leader K C Joseph, Thiruvananthapuram DCC president Palode Ravi, Rajya Sabha MP Jebi Methar, MLAs P C Vishnunadh, Youth Congress state president Shafi Parambil MLA, Saneesh Kumar Joseph and Anwar Sadath, YC vice president J S Akhil and close associates. Maria Oommen, elder daughter of Oommen Chandy also accompanied the body.
Wife Mariamma, son Chandy Oommen and daughter Achu Oommen left for Puthupally in a car. The KSRTC bus carrying Oommen Chandy was briefly stopped in front of the Kerala Legislative Assembly where people rushed to pay their homage. It took more than an hour to reach Pattom junction where several scores of common people and pedestrians including school children waited patiently to pay their respects.
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Traffic regulations have been enforced on MC Road where large vehicles like lorries have been banned from entering for the smooth movement of Oommen Chandy's last travel to Puthupally. The body will be kept for public viewing at Thirunakkara grounds in Kottayam. By late evening, the body will be brought back to his ancestral house at Puthupally. Chandy will be laid to rest at St George Church on Thursday at 2 pm.