Bengaluru/Thiruvananthapuram: Oommen Chandy, a senior Congress leader who had been the chief minister of Kerala twice, died early Tuesday morning in Bangalore, his family said.
He was 79.
The death of the former Kerala chief minister was announced by his son, Chandy Oommen, in a Facebook post.
"Appa has passed away", Oommen wrote on his Facebook page, without elaborating.
As a gesture of respect for the departed former chief minister, the Kerala government has declared Tuesday a public holiday and declared two days of mourning.
According to sources in Congress, Chandy passed away at 4:25 a.m. while receiving cancer treatment at a private hospital.
Chandy, who had been ill for some time, was receiving treatment in Bangalore.
He was the chief minister twice, for a total of seven years (2004–2006 and 2011–2016).
In previous governments led by K Karunakaran and A K Antony, Chandy also held the positions of Minister of Labour, Minister of Home, and Minister of Finance. In the Kerala Assembly, he was also the leader of the opposition.
Representing Puthuppally constituency, Chandy served as the MLA for more than half a century setting the record for the longest tenure.
Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala, A N Shamseer, the Speaker of the Assembly, V D Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, V Muraleedharan, the Union Minister, and other political party leaders all expressed condolences at Chandy's passing.—Inputs from Agencies