Kottayam: Waiting for Oommen Chandy is nothing new to the people of Kottayam, but the wait has never been so long. The arrangements at the Thirunakkara Maidan in the heart of the town were all ready by Wednesday to welcome Chandy for a final time. The funeral procession of the Congress stalwart and two-time Kerala chief minister was supposed to reach the town by 6.30 in the evening. However, the procession was yet to pass Kottarakkara, some 80 km away around 7.30 pm. Large crowds gathered all over the itinerary of Chandy’s final journey have thrown the plans out of gear.

It took around eight hours for the procession to cover Thiruvananthapuram district alone. Large crowds had gathered in various places in Kollam district also, further slowing down the trip.

Senior Congress leaders from Kottayam district, including Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan MLA, District Congress Committee president Nattakom Suresh, and former DCC chiefs Joshy Philip and Tomy Kallani, have been staying at Thirunakkara Maidan since the afternoon. Young leaders including Mathew Kuzhalnadan MLA and Ramya Haridas MP also reached Thirunakkara by evening. Leaders of the CPM and BJP from the district had also arrived at Thirunakkara.

Chandy’s body will be kept on the decorated stage for the public to pay their final respects. Arrangements have been made for the public and VIPs to pay respects to the departed leader. District Collector V Vigneshwari, IAS, took stock of the arrangements at the venue. Large posses of police personnel have been deployed in the town to manage the crowd.

The district Congress leadership was not in a position to predict the time when the procession would reach Thirunakkara. “As of now, we can’t say when the procession would reach here. As per the plans, there could be a brief halt near SB College, Changanassery, where Chandy sir studied and started his political career. The body will be kept at Thirunakkara Maidan at least for four hours, depending on the crowd to be turned up. It wouldn’t be surprising if the procession reaches Puthuppally only by early morning on Thursday,” DCC president Suresh told Onmanorama.

At Puthuppally, seven km from town, the body will be kept at Chandy’s ancestral house and on the premises of the new house the Congress leader had started building recently. The funeral would be held at St George Orthodox Church in Puthupally later on Thursday.

DCC general secretary Siby Chenappady said the party was expecting at least one lakh people to be in the town by Wednesday night and Thursday. People from neighbouring districts Idukki and Ernakulam and north Kerala are expected to travel to Kottayam to have a final glimpse of their favourite leader.