Mortal remains of Oommen Chandy to be brought to Kerala on July 18

Thiruvananthapuram: The mortal remains of senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy will be brought to Thiruvananthapuram from Bengaluru on Tuesday afternoon, the party said.

Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly, Satheesan said the funeral services will be held at Puthuppally church near Kottayam on Thursday afternoon.

Addressing the media along with other senior leaders, he said the body will be kept at the Durbar hall of the state secretariat today for the public to pay tribute.

"After that the remains will be taken to the St George Cathedral near the secretariat where he used to pray. Later, the body will be kept at Indira Bhavan, for the party workers to pay homage," Satheesan said.

Indira Bhavan at Thiruvananthapuram is the Congress headquarters in Kerala.

The body will be taken in a procession to Puthuppally tomorrow morning.

"We have made arrangements at the Thirunakkara Ground in Kottayam for the public to pay homage. In the evening, the body will be taken to his house at Puthuppally," Satheesan said.

The funeral will be held at the Puthuppally church at 2 PM on Thursday, he added.

Chandy, who served as the chief minister of Kerala twice, died in Bengaluru early today, his family said.

He was 79.

The death of the former Kerala chief minister was announced by his son, Chandy Oommen, in a Facebook post.

The Kerala government has announced Tuesday as a public holiday and two days' mourning as a mark of respect to the late former CM.

According to Congress sources, Chandy died at a private hospital at 4.25 am while undergoing treatment for cancer.