Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 12 (IANS): Veteran Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who has been ailing for a few months, was airlifted to Bengaluru on Sunday.

His wife, Mariamma Oommen, son Chandy Oomen, and daughters Maria and Achu accompanied him on the special chartered flight, arranged by the Congress.

The former Chief Minister was not keeping well since 2019 and had undergone laser surgery for a throat ailment at a hospital in Germany. He was under treatment at a multi-specialty hospital in Bengaluru but had later returned back to Thiruvananthapuram.

However, there were reports in the past few days that proper care was not being taken of him and later, he was taken to a private hospital in Neyyatinakara near here for treatment of pneumonia. After a few days of treatment, Chandy's health condition improved.

On his way to the airport, Chandy denied reports that had appeared in a section of the media that his family had delayed his treatment.

"I don't know how such reports have come stating that my family delayed my treatment. This pained me and my family members," he said.

Congress General Secretary, K.C. Venugopal had met the former Chief Minister at the hospital and conveyed the party's decision to provide all the treatment to Chandy as also the chartered flight to airlift him to Bengaluru.

A controversy erupted after Oomen Chandy's younger brother Alex Chandy and some other relatives had written a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking his intervention to provide treatment to the former Chief Minister, and this was picked up by a section of the media.