Chandy Oommen’s life after July 18 has been a roller coaster ride. From losing his father, later former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on the said date to being asked by the United Democratic Front (UDF) to contest from the same constituency his father represented, the young Congress leader has had to go through varying emotions over the past many days. “These have been the most difficult days of my life. My father is not there with me or my family. Now the party has decided to make me contest in his shoes, which is a difficult task because my father has been representing this constituency for the last 53 years and the people here see him as their brother or son. So it’s never possible to fill the vacuum he left,” Chandy Oommen said, in an interview to TNM.

Ever since the bye-polls for Puthuppally constituency were announced following former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy’s demise, the LDF camp had taken out a massive campaign with regard to the development or the lack of it in the Puthuppally constituency. The CPI(M) and their supporters have been saying that Oommen Chandy had not brought in any significant changes in the constituency during the five decades he represented Puthuppally. 

“I don’t know how they can make such allegations. He was the one who brought in the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, a premiere journalism institute here. During the COVID pandemic period, more than five lakh tests were conducted in the School of Medical Education here in Puthuppally. My father also played a major role in establishing several educational institutions here, including the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology,” said Chandy Oommen. 

Chandy Oommen told TNM that if he is elected, he will continue the developmental activities that his father had begun in the constituency. 

Watch the full interview with Chandy Oommen here: