Vayalar Ravi

Vayalar Ravi
Vayalar Ravi
Member of Rajya Sabha for Kerala
In office 22 April 2003 – 23 April 2021
Constituency	Kerala
In office 2 July 1994 – 1 July 2000
Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs
In office 29 January 2006 – 26 May 2014
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Oscar Fernandes
Succeeded by	Sushma Swaraj
Minister of Science and Technology
In office 14 August 2012 – 28 October 2012
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Vilasrao Deshmukh
Succeeded by	Jaipal Reddy
Minister of Earth Sciences
In office 14 August 2012 – 28 October 2012
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Vilasrao Deshmukh
Succeeded by	Jaipal Reddy
Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
In office 14 August 2012 – 28 October 2012
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Vilasrao Deshmukh
Succeeded by	K. H. Muniyappa
Minister of Civil Aviation
In office 19 January 2011 – 18 December 2011
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Praful Patel
Succeeded by	Chaudhary Ajit Singh
Personal details
Born	(1937-06-04) 4 June 1937 (age 86) Alappuzha, Travancore, British India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Mercy Ravi
Residence	Kerala
Source: [1]

Vayalar Ravi (born 4 June 1937^[1]) is an Indian politician, who served as the Union Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs from 2006 to 2014. He is a former member of the Rajya Sabha.

Political life

Ravi was born in Vayalar, Cherthala, Alappuzha District, Kerala. He was the first General Secretary of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the students' wing of Indian National Congress in Kerala.^[1][2][3] Ravi was elected to the 5th Lok Sabha in 1971^[1][3] from Chirayinkil in Thiruvananthapuram district;^[3] he was re-elected to the 6th Lok Sabha in 1977,^[1][3] serving until 1979.^[1] He was elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1982,^[1][3] and he served as Home Minister of Kerala from 1982 to 1986^[2][3] before resigning from that position due to a disagreement with Chief Minister K. Karunakaran.^[2] He was re-elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1987,^[3] serving until 1991.^[1] He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in July 1994 and again in April 2003.^[1] He became Union Cabinet Minister for Overseas Affairs on 30 January 2006.^[3]

After the Congress reelection in 2009, Ravi was re-inducted to the Cabinet for the second UPA government and retained the portfolio of Overseas Indian Affairs. He was given the additional responsibility of Ministry of Civil Aviation on 19 January 2011. He resigned from the office after Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh succeeded him.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Vayalar Ravi was born to a prominent Ezhava family, as son of M.K Krishnan, a veteran freedom fighter and a social activist and Devaki Amma a congress party leader in Vayalar, Kerala. Ravi met his wife Mercy, while they were both active in the Kerala Students Union and he married her after a brief courtship. Mercy Ravi died on 5 September 2009 following a kidney failure, aged 64.^[4]

In February 2010, Vayalar Ravi along with Indian Ambassador Shamma Jain were injured in a car accident in Monrovia, Liberia, while on an official visit to African countries.^[5]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vayalar Ravi.