Kottayam (Ker), Sep 17 (PTI) Veteran Congress leader and former Kerala chief minister Ommen Chandy reached a major milestone of 50 consecutive years as an MLA, a feat hailed by leaders of various parties cutting across political lines on Thursday. Chandy, a mass leader who began his political career as a worker of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), has been elected continuously to the state Assembly from Puthuppally constituency in this district since 1970.

In all, the 76-year old Chandy has been elected to the state assembly 11 times in a row since his maiden success in the polls held on September 17, 1970.

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A programme was organised here to mark Chandy's golden jubilee as an MLA with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, other senior party colleagues, leaders from CPI(M), CPI and BJP were among those who felicitated the veteran.

Gandhi described it as "an extraordinary achievement" and said it was the reflection of immense love, gratitude and respect of the people of his constituency for him and his dedication and sincerity with which he has worked for their welfare and progress for half-a-century. During his long and eventful years in public life, Chandy has been a dynamic student leader, a visionary chief minister, "a most effective" opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly and a greatly valued general secretary of All India Congress Committee, said Gandhi, whose message was read out in the meeting by party leader K C Joseph. She recalled that as a leader and and long serving MLA, Chandy has brought great distinction, ability and integrity, never compromising on his principles and belief in secularism, social justice and democratic values. The Congress chief hailed Chandy as "a most cherished member of the party, a patriotic Indian and a great son of Kerala, and a figure of inspiration, whose statesmanship, wise counsel and experience we turn to for guidance" and wished him many years of public life. Congratulating the two-time chief minister, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Chandy was a true leader of the people of Kerala. "He is a leader of the people of Kerala because he feels the pain of the people of Kerala," he said in a video address to the gathering organised at a hall here. The Wayanad MP said Chandy's doors were always open for the people, always accessible, always listening and always working. Senior Congress leaders and his colleagues since his days as KSU activists,A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi spoke at the virtual function sharing their experiences as the workers of Congress party.

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They also hailed the administrative and organisational skills of Chandy, who held the post of Chief Minister twice -- 2004-2006 and from 2011-16. Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC President Mullappally Ramachandran, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran and leaders of various political parties and religious organisations spoke at the function, hailing the contributions made by Chandy for the development of the state as an administrator. Besides Chandy, his party colleagues and family members attended the function titled "Sukrutham, Suvarnam" organised by the Congress party. A staunch proponent of Indian National Congress and its ideology, Chandy ventured into the political arena as an activist of KSU, the student wing of the party. His entry into mainstream Congress politics was through Youth Congress in which he served as the president at the state level.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)