Who is Chandy Oommen? Puthupally bypoll winner who surpassed father and ex-Kerala CM Oommen Chandy's record

Chandy Oommen is the son of the late Ommen Chandy, a veteran Congress leader and a two-time Chief Minister of Kerala. He retained the Puthupally assembly constituency in Kerala by a margin of over 36,000 votes in the bypoll held on Friday, September 8. He surpassed his father's record of a victory margin of 33,255 votes in the constituency.

Oommen gained a clear edge since the initial round. His nearest rival, LDF Party's Jaick C Thomas, did not surpass him in even one of the rounds.

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The bypoll elections happened as Oommen Chandy's demise on September 5 left the seat vacant.

Here's everything you need to know about Puthupally's new choice, Chandy Oommen.

Chandy Oommen: Education & Political Career

Chandy Oomen was born in March 1986 in Puthupally's Kottayam district, Kerala. He completed his schooling at Loyola School in 1992. He pursued his BA honours and MA in History from New Delhi's St. Stephen's College.

In college, he was the president of the students' union between 2006 and 2007. He was also the state secretary of Youth Congress in 2013.

After his post-graduation, Chandy finished his LLB from Delhi University and LLM in Constitutional Law at Christ University in Bengaluru in 2015-16. Chandy Oommen attended the summer course 2016 at the London School of Economics. He also completed his LLM in criminology at the National Law University, New Delhi.

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Chandy Oommen is a practising lawyer. He served as adjunct faculty at Amity University and Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi.

Since his college days, Chandy Oommen has been a part of Congress's organisational structure. The 37-year-old is the chairman of the Youth Congress's national outreach cell. He is also a member of KPCC (Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee).

Chandy Oommen also participated in Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. However, he skipped it midway due to his father's illness. His father, Oommen Chandy, had represented the constituency for over 53 years.

In the Puthupally by-elections, Oommen won the seat, bagging 78,098 votes, while the LDF candidate Jaick C Thomas received 41,644 votes. Seven candidates participated in the face-off, and the voter turnout was around 72 per cent.

After his victory, Chandy Oommen addressed the media and said, "My father has been a member of every family in Puthuppally. He was a father, a brother, and a son for the people of Puthuppally. I would be here for all of you as my father had been for you. It is the victory of the people who loved my father."

(With inputs from agencies)

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