Kottayam: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will attend the funeral of former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at Puthuppally on Thursday. All India Congress Committee general secretary K C Venugopal announced the news on Twitter on Wednesday.
"Rahul Gandhi ji will be attending the funeral of Oommen Chandy ji tomorrow. With deep grief, we will respectfully bid farewell to our beloved leader tomorrow at Puthupally, Kottayam," Venugopal wrote on Twitter.
The funeral of Chandy, two-time chief minister of Kerala and an AICC general secretary, will take place at his parish church in Puthuppally, his hometown, on Thursday. The body is being shifted to Kottayam from Thiruvananthapuram as thousands of people throng the streets to pay last respect to Chandy who is known for his compassionate approach to people's issues.
The funeral procession began from Thiruvananthapuram at 7 am on Wednesday.
His body will be kept for public viewing at the Thirunakkara Maidanam in Kottayam. The funeral would be held at 2 pm in St George Orthodox Church in Puthupally on Thursday.
Chandy, 79, breathed his last in a private hospital in Bengaluru at 4:25 am on Tuesday. His end came while undergoing treatment for cancer.
Earlier on Tuesday, Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge, top party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi along with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar, paid homage to Chandy at former Karnataka minister late T John's residence in Indiranagar. In his condolences message, Rahul hailed Chandy as an exemplary grassroots Congress leader.
