Oommen Chandy death: Holiday declared in Kerala today, university exams cancelled

livemint.com:

Oommen Chandy passed away in Bengaluru in the early hours of Tuesday. Therefore, the Kerala government has declared a public holiday today as a mark of respect to the two-time chief minister of the state. All government offices and educational institutions including professional colleges will remain closed on Tuesday.

Kerala will observe two days of mourning. The Mahatma Gandhi University has also cancelled all the exams scheduled for 18 July. The death of the senior Congress leader was announced by his son, Chandy Oommen, in a Facebook post.

"Appa has passed away", Oommen wrote on his Facebook page, without elaborating. The incumbent Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan expressed grief over the death of Chandy. He said, "We were elected to the Legislative Assembly in the same year.

It was at the same stage that we came to the political fore through student life. We led public life at the same time and it is extremely difficult to bid him farewell. Oommen Chandy was a capable administrator and a person who was closely involved in people's lives...".

Apart from Vijayan, Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan, Union Minister V Muraleedharan, and leaders of various political parties condoled Chandy's demise. According to the Congress, Chandy died at a private hospital at 4.25 am while undergoing treatment for cancer. Chandy, who had not been keeping well for quite some time, was staying in Bengaluru for treatment.

He was the chief minister twice for a total of seven years (2004–2006 and again from 2011–2016). Chandy had also served as Minister of Labour, Home, and Finance in various governments headed by K Karunakaran and A K Antony. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition in