Thomas Chandy

Thomas Chandy
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Kerala
Preceded by	Dr. K C Joseph
Constituency	Kuttanad
Personal details
Born	29 August 1947 Chenammkary
Political party	Nationalist Congress Party
Spouse(s)	Mercy Chandy
Children	1 Son & 2 Daughters
Residence	Chenammkary, Kerala, Kuwait
Website	www.thomaschandy.com
As of 23 Jul, 2013 Source:

Thomas Chandy is a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the state of Kerala representing the Kuttanad constituency and a prominent business man based in Kuwait.

Early life and family

Thomas Chandy was born on 29 August 1947, one of the sons of V.C.Thomas and Aleyamma Thomas at Chenammkary. He has completed a diploma in Telecommunication Engineering from the Institute of Engineering Technology, Chennai.^[1] He is married to Mercy Chandy and has 1 son and 2 daughters.^[2]

Political career

He started his political career in the KSU and was later selected as the President of the KSU and Youth Congress in Kuttanad, in 1970. After re-entering politics actively, he aligned himself with the DIC(K) of which he was the lone MLA as a part of the UDF in the 2006 elections,^[3] which later merged with the NCP and then aligned with the LDF for the 2011 elections. Based on the declaration of assets filed at the time of the elections,^[4] he is the richest MLA in the assembly with assets of over 920 Million Indian rupees.^[5]

Election Victories
Year	Closest rival	Votes polled
2006	Dr. KC Joseph KEC[6]	42,109
2011	Dr. KC Joseph (KEC-M)[7]	60,010
2016	Jacob Abraham (KC-M)	50,114

Business career

Thomas Chandy is a business man, and has interests in the fields of education and hospitality among others. He is the Chairman of the United Indian School,^[8] Indian Public School and Indian Central School^[9] in Kuwait. He also runs a school in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.^[10] Chandy also owns a controlling interest in the Lake Palace Resort, located on the Punamada Lake in Kerala^[11]

Social Activist

He is a very active social worker both in Kuwait as well as in Kerala. In Kuwait, he was recently involved with a waste disposal and cleanup campaign in a suburb mainly inhabited by expatriates from Kerala.^[12] He also intervened in the case of Indian nurses who were duped in a job racket which promised them jobs in government hospitals in Kuwait.^[13]

Thomas Chandy is the chairman of the Daveedputhra Charitable Society, which has been involved in building houses for over 5000 families, providing sanitation facilities, health care and educational assistance, and other services.^[14]

References

1. "Affidavit - 2011 Elections" (PDF). Election Commission, Kerala. 25 March 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
2. "Thomas Chandy". Member Profile. Government of Kerala. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
3. Staff Reporter (15 November 2006). "Thomas Chandy defends his stance". The Hindu. Kerala. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
4. "Affidavit 2016 Election" (PDF).
5. "Thomas Chandy". Myneta.info-National Election Watch. Association for Democratic Reforms. 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
6. "Kerala Assembly Election 2006 Kuttanad". Empowering India. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
7. "Kerala Assembly Election 2011 Kuttanad". Kerala Assembly Election 2011 Kuttanad. Empowering India. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
8. "Chairman's Message". United Indian School Kuwait. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
9. "Indian Central School celebrates 15th annual day". Indians in Kuwait. 5 February 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
10. JAVID HASSAN (13 January 2013). "NRI granted license to open school in Riyadh". Arab News. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
11. "Lake Palace Resort". Kerala Travel Mart. Alapuzha: Kerala Travel Mart Society. 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
12. Valiya S. Sajjad (15 December 2012). "Chandy Providing Full Financial Support For Garbage Disposal Campaign". Arab Times. Kuwait. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
13. Sajeev K Peter (3 March 2013). "Indian Nurses duped by job racket in Kuwait". Kuwait Times. Kuwait. p. 3. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
14. "Daveedhputhra Charitable Society". Thomas Chandy.com (in Malayalam). Thomas Chandy. Retrieved 23 July 2013.