Congress veteran and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Tuesday became the longest serving member of the state Assembly by representing his home constituency Puthupally, in the House for 18,728 days. By completing 51 years and over three months as MLA, he broke the existing record in the name of former Kerala Congress (M) supremo late K M Mani.Mani had represented only Pala, his home turf, in the House, Chandy represented only Puthuppally in the past five decades.
Beginning his stint as a legislator by winning in the 1970 state Assembly polls at the age of 27, he has won 11 back-to-back polls since then. 78-year-old Chandy became the CM of the state for two times-from 2004-06 and 2011-16.Besides becoming the minister for four times in various cabinets in the past decades, he also served as the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly four times. Reacting to the media, Chandy gave all credit to his rare record to the people of Puthuppally, saying each of his victories was the opportunity given by the voters of the home turf. Late K M Mani still holds the record of having been the longest serving minister in the state Assembly till date.