Former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy: A people's messiah in God's Own Country?

Sinner or saint? Miracle man or malcontent? Amid attempts by some to portray him as divine and others to defame him, Oommen Chandy's tomb is a tourist lodestone.

Some call him the ‘Puthuppally Punyalan’ (Saint of Puthuppally) for purportedly performing miracles even after his passing; for his followers, he is still believed to be attentive to the people who approach him with petitions; travel companies see a business opportunity in his legacy; the church considers him noble, while others view him as a shrewd politician.

Former Kerala chief minister (CM) and popular Congress leader Oommen Chandy, who passed away on July 18 after battling cancer, continues to captivate public attention.

In Kerala’s mainstream media and social media, people are coming forward daily with claims of miracles attributed to Chandy, and hundreds flock to his resting place regularly.

Followers and ‘believers’ credit him with anything and everything, from receiving cures for health issues to winning lottery tickets after praying at his tomb, or even attributing Rahul Gandhi’s relief at the Supreme Court to attending Chandy’s funeral at Puthuppally church, believing in the leader’s intercession to God.

During his lifetime, Chandy was admired for his accessibility to the common man.

He was one of the first world leaders to webcast his office proceedings and the CM’s chamber 24x7 as early as 2011. In 2013, the United Nations honoured him for his mass contact programme, during which Chandy personally travelled to all 14 districts and directly received petitions from people, often standing for up to 19 hours, leaving no petitioner disappointed.

While the authenticity of the posthumous claims remains uncertain, travel operators in Kerala are preparing to capitalise on the public’s fascination with Chandy.

Many operators, spanning from Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Kozhikode in the north, have already included St George Orthodox Church in Puthuppally (Chandy’s resting place and a revered Syrian Christian pilgrimage centre) as part of their ‘pilgrim package’.

The interest among travel industry players spiked when bus owner S Prasanthan from Attingal, who was accompanying a group of tourists, unexpectedly visited Puthuppally church at 10 pm.

“I noticed a large number of buses and cars in the parking lot, days after Chandy’s death. I saw potential in this and, upon returning, decided to advertise a one-day trip to Puthuppally church and Chandy’s tomb on August 5 via social media. Since then, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” says Prasanthan, who is also the general-secretary of the Contract Carriage Operators Association and owner of Viswasree Tour and Travels. The tour costs Rs 500 per person from Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district to Puthuppally in Kottayam.

Following Prasanthan’s lead, at least five other bus operators across Kerala have launched similar packages or are in the process of doing so.

Subhash Pranavam, another operator from Charummoodu in Alappuzha district and a Congress worker, had a fully booked first trip with his 26-seat Tempo Traveller. “All those who booked were families, and most of them had no party allegiance. After I announced my trip, another operator from nearby Nooranad announced a similar package,” adds Pranavam.

Pompi Travels, based in Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district, known for being a stronghold of the Muslim League and a Congress ally in Kerala, is also planning to include Puthuppally in a pilgrim package to central Kerala. It is discussing the idea with Muslim League leaders to finalise the plan, which may cost around Rs 1,000 per person for a trip from Nilambur.

While the surge in visitors may be seen as an opportunity for the industry amidst the Covid-19 recovery and strict regulations by the state motor vehicle department, the centuries-old Indian Orthodox Church has a different perspective.

The church, which already receives thousands of visitors from various parts of the state every week between Wednesday and Sunday, experienced a surge in fame after Chandy’s funeral.

Fr Varghese Varghese, the vicar of the church, emphasises that people visiting the church are also visiting Chandy’s tomb and vice versa. He clarifies that although Chandy’s popularity has led travel operators to create packages, the church does not encourage such commercialisation.

Opponents like the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have remained silent on the current events. Sunnykutty Abraham, a senior political analyst, believes that not commenting on these developments would be politically wise for them.

While some are celebrating Chandy’s legacy, others opposing him have brought up allegations that were previously levelled against him during his tenure. These allegations include his alleged political involvement in the ‘malicious prosecution’ of former space scientist Nambi Narayanan in the Isro case and his role in bringing down K Karunakaran from the CM’s post.

Chandy faced controversies related to the Kerala solar scam, an alleged internal mutiny leading to the resignation of A K Antony, corruption allegations in setting up a pollution control plant at Travancore Titanium Products, and the palm oil import case.

For his opponents, the major weapon at their disposal is the speeches given by their own party members. One video of the current Opposition leader, V D Satheesan, is circulating in which he accuses the Chandy government of corruption and holds him responsible for the downfall of the Karunakaran and Antony governments. Similarly, another video featuring one of the most popular Congress leaders in Kerala, K Muraleedharan, is also making rounds on social media, with him referring to Chandy as an ‘agent of the liquor mafia’.

Amidst attempts by some to portray him as divine and others to defame him, Chandy’s death has made one thing evident — he was arguably one of the most popular and accessible CMs in the state’s history.