Kottayam (Kerala) | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that party stalwart, the late Oommen Chandy was not an individual, but an expression of Kerala politics and that he "killed himself" for the people of the state despite facing one of the most brutal unfair political attacks.

Rahul, in a social media post later, also said that Chandy had a simple goal -- to nurture a new generation of leaders who work with compassion, humility and the politics of feeling.

Earlier in the day, after inaugurating a memorial meeting to mark the second death anniversary of Chandy, a former Chief Minister, Rahul termed the political attack on the Congress stalwart as "criminal".

"Non-stop lies were told about him (Chandy)," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said in an apparent reference to the multi-crore solar scam.

Three of Chandy's office staff were accused of being involved in the alleged duping of several persons of crores of rupees by a woman and her male accomplice by offering solar panel solutions.

The woman had also accused Chandy and some other senior Congress leaders, including K C Venugopal, of sexually exploiting her.

However, all of them were given clean chit by the CBI which probed her allegations.

Rahul said that he regularly spoke to Chandy while the latter was facing these allegations, but the Congress stalwart never spoke angrily about anybody.

"He was always balanced, always humble and always working for the interests of the people of the state." He said that he learned a lot from Chandy and it was his aspiration to develop more and more people like the Congress stalwart as Kerala has a "tradition" of such persons.

"He was not just an individual, but an expression of Kerala politics. I have literally seen him kill himself for the people of the state," the Congress MP from Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh) said.

Rahul also termed Chandy as a "master of political feeling".

In his social media post, the Leader of Opposition said that true politics "was not about what you say or what you think, it is about your ability to feel what people are feeling".

"That's what Oommen Chandy ji embodied. He gave himself fully to Kerala - without anger, greed, or fear. At the Smriti Sangamam, I felt his absence deeply but also his spirit - in the warmth of the people and the joy of handing over homes in his name," he said in the post.

During his speech, Rahul also referred to Chandy as his 'guru'.

He said that a 'guru' was one who actually shows you the direction through his own actions.

"So in many ways, Chandy ji is my guru and of many people in Kerala. He showed us the direction not by talking or thinking but by acting.

"And I look forward to many young people in Kerala following in his footsteps and behaving in the tradition of the politics of Kerala," he said.

Prior to the memorial meeting, Rahul paid tribute to Chandy at his grave at the St George Church, Puthuppally here.

The Congress leader laid flowers and lit a candle at Chandy's grave and prayed before it.

Subsequently, he visited the church and proceeded to the venue of the memorial meeting.

As part of the programme, Rahul handed over the keys to 12 newly built houses for the poor, constructed by the Oommen Chandy Foundation, and launched a new charitable initiative named 'Smriti Sangamam'.

He also handed out cochlear implants to some children with hearing difficulties. It was done as part of an initiative started by Chandy.