A teary goodbye to Oommen Chandy, as hearse leaves for Kottayam

Thiruvananthapuram, July 19: Hundreds of people lined both sides of the roads here to give a last farewell to Oommen Chandy,OC to fellow party workers and 'Kunjunju' to family members as the mortal remains were taken to the final resting place in Kottayam on Wednesday.

Around 7 a.m, the hearse left his residence, named Puthuppally House. Despite rain, people were waiting to have one last glimpse, and the hearse came to a halt in front of the Kerala Legislative Assembly where a crowd was waiting.

With the vehicle moving forward from the front of the Assembly, Chandy's name will be etched in the records as the  only one with an uninterrupted stint as a legislator since 1970.

After nearly three hours of the hearse leaving his house, it could manage to travel a mere seven kilometers as hundreds of people were seen waiting and most of them with moist eyes. At several places school children were seen lining up on the road and bidding him goodbye.

With the speed at which the hearse is now moving it is expected to take another 10 hours to reach Kottayam, his home district, located about 140 kms from here.

There are people walking in front of the vehicle besides a battery of media personnel and a long line of vehicles trailing the hearse.

Sukumaran Nair, the powerful general secretary of the Hindu-Nair Service Society could not control his emotions and said what's been seen in the past two days shows how the people of Kerala loved this great leader.

Hugely popular actor Jagdish was spotted paying his respects as early as 5.50 a.m. and tears rolled down his eyes.

"I could not win the only Assembly election which I contested in 2016 and just see how Chandy Sir was a legislator for 53 years. What one has been seeing on TV the way people are reacting to his demise is unbelievable and no other person in our State has received this much love," said Jagdish.

The last rites will be held at his home parish at a specially created grave in Kottayam's Puthuppally on Thursday evening.