Thiruvananthapuram: With assets worth Rs 92.37 crore, Thomas Chandy will be the richest person to be sworn in as minister in CPM-led LDF government here on Saturday. He was the richest among all candidates who contested Assembly elections in April 2016. The 69-year-old NCP leader who is a diploma holder in telecommunication engineering, started his political career as a KSU leader. After a gap of many years he returned to state politics joining Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) which was formed following a split in Congress.
DIC(K) joined hands with UDF for the 2006 Assembly polls. Of the 17 seats contested by the party, only Chandy won from Kuttanad constituency. Later the party merged with NCP. Chandy defeated Jacob Abraham of KC(M) by a margin of 4,891 votes in tight triangular contest in Kuttanad in 2016. He courted a controversy ahead of polls stating that his party would stake claim for water resource portfolio. His wife Mercy Chandy, a son and two daughters help him look after the educational institutions and other business interests.
