Vayalar Ravi

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.

Vayalar Ravi
Vayalar Ravi
Member of Rajya Sabha for Kerala
In office
22 April 2003 – 23 April 2021
ConstituencyKerala
In office
2 July 1994 – 1 July 2000
Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs
In office
29 January 2006 – 26 May 2014
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byOscar Fernandes
Succeeded bySushma Swaraj
Minister of Science and Technology
In office
14 August 2012 – 28 October 2012
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byVilasrao Deshmukh
Succeeded byJaipal Reddy
Minister of Earth Sciences
In office
14 August 2012 – 28 October 2012
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byVilasrao Deshmukh
Succeeded byJaipal Reddy
Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
In office
14 August 2012 – 28 October 2012
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byVilasrao Deshmukh
Succeeded byK. H. Muniyappa
Minister of Civil Aviation
In office
19 January 2011 – 18 December 2011
Prime MinisterManmohan Singh
Preceded byPraful Patel
Succeeded byChaudhary Ajit Singh
Personal details
Born (1937-06-04) 4 June 1937
Alappuzha, Travancore, British India
Political partyIndian National Congress
SpouseMercy Ravi
ResidenceKerala
Source:
In this Indian name, the toponymic surname is Vayalar. It is not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Ravi.

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.

Personal life

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
  1. Biographical sketch at Rajya Sabha website.
  2. "New Minister for NRI affairs", nriol.com.
  3. Profile at Ravi website.
  4. "Vayalar Ravi's wife passes away". The Times of India. 5 September 2009. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  5. "Vyalar Ravi out of danger after accident in Liberia". The Times of India. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
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