Thiruvananthapuram: Rename the Main Central Road (MC Road) as OC Road after former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who passed away earlier this week, Congress leaders in Kerala have demanded.
V M Sudheeran, former president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), has written a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, putting forth this demand.
The letter stated the last journey of Oommen Chandy was an unparalleled one and that in reality the people had turned MC Road into Oommen Chandy Road as they massed to see a last glimpse of him.
The veteran Congress leader was often referred to as OC by many in the political circle. His cortege which left his house in Thiruvananthapuram took nearly one-and-a-half days to reach his ancestral home at his native place Puthupally in Kottayam district. The distance of about 160 km was covered by the hearse, mostly through the arterial MC Road, in 36 hours as people line up the streets to pay their last respects ahead of his funeral at the St George Church at Puthupally.
“Kerala witnessed unprecedented acts of homage being paid to Oommen Chandy who loved the people and whom the people loved. The funeral cortege starting from Puthuppally House in Thiruvananthapuram to Puthuppally in Kottayam along MC Road carrying the mortal remains of the late leader was unparalleled.
“The reactions by people of all ages were such that MC Road virtually turned into Oommen Chandy Road. Therefore, it will only be apt to rename MC Road as Oommen Chandy Road. Let MC Road be known as OC Road in future. My request is that the process for implementing this should be initiated as expeditiously as possible,” Sudheeran said in his letter.
Also, Chandy frequently used the MC Road as he commuted between the State Capital Thiruvananthapuram and his native place Puthupally which is part of the Puthupally Assembly constituency which he represented continuously for a record 53 years till his death.
Rahul Mankootathil, State Youth Congress general secretary, too demanded in a posting on social media that MC Road should be renamed as OC Road.
Rahul’s post: The late K M Mani once said, “The person who has travelled the most from Kottayam to Thiruvananthapuram is Oommen Chandy”. This is true to a large extent... A large number of people got their grievances addressed by him. That was one of the reasons why people poured out in such large numbers that the road was invisible during his last journey. The government must adopt steps to rename the road that he took almost on a daily basis as “OC Road” in his honour.
The 240 km MC Road stretches from Kesavadasapuram in Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Angamaly in the north. This State Highway is the most important road in central Kerala.
