67-year-old Chandy was on Sunday unanimously elected by the Congress Legislature Party as its leader, paving the way for his second stint as Chief Minister heading the UDF, which wrested power from LDF by a wafer-thin majority in the April 13 Assembly polls. Ending uncertainties, Chandy, who enjoyed the support of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi, emerged as the sole contender for the top post after KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala opted out of the race.
After a meeting of the 38-member CLP, presided by AICC observers Moshina Kidwai and Madhusudan Mistry, Chennithala announced that Chandy will lead the ministry.
Oommen Chandy
He is an Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress. He was the Chief Minister of Kerala from 2004 to 2006, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2011. He will serve his second term as the Chief Minister of Kerala after the UDF victory in 2011 elections.
Born-October 31, 1943 (age 67)
Puthuppally, Travancore
Political party-Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)-Mariamma Oommen
Children-1 son and 2 daughters
Residence-Puthuppally, Kerala
Religion-Christian
Oommen Chandy or 'Kunjoonju' was born to K.O. Chandy and Baby Chandy. He is also a trade unionist and heads several INTUC affiliated outfits. Born in an upper class affluent Christian family at Puthuppally. Chandy ventured into the political arena as an activist of Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the party. He was the unit president of KSU at St George High School, Puthupally, and went on to become the State President of the organization. Chandy completed his college education from CMS College, Kottayam, SB College, Changanassery. Later, he took a bachelors degree in law (LLB) from Government Law College, Ernakulam.Chief Minister
The results of the parliamentary elections in May 2004 saw the Indian National Congress not winning a single seat in Kerala. The sitting Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, was forced to resign and accept responsibility for the poor results. On 30 August 2004, Oommen was elected the Congress Legislature Party leader at the end of a meeting by AICC observers and clearance by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. In what may be seen as a reflection of his work as Chief Minister, the Congress-led alliance was defeated, but managed to retain 40 out of 140 seats in the assembly and boost its vote-share by nearly 10% after the general election rout. He resigned as Chief Minister on May 12, 2006 following the defeat of his party in 2006 Assembly Elections.