THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prominent trade union leader and Rashtriya Janata Dal state vice-president Charupara Ravi (77) passed away on Tuesday. He breathed his last in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.

Charupara Ravi was born in Vithura in 1949 to Janardhanan Unnithan and Sumati Amma. Ravi started his political career as a member of the Samyukta Socialist Party at the age of 18. He was an office bearer of ISO during his college days and even worked as a district and state office bearer, national council member and executive member of the Janata Dal movement.

As a labour leader, Charupara Ravi led many protests in the plantation sector. Notable ones include the strike of HMS workers in various estates demanding minimum wages despite facing strong opposition. Ravi was arrested during the Emergency and brutally tortured by the police. He had to spend four months in jail.

Ravi unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections from Aryanad in 1980 as a Janata Party candidate, from Neyyattinkara constituency in 1996 and from Nemom in 2009. He served as the Vice Chairman of the Rubber Board, a member of the KSRTC Board of Directors, a member of the Devaswom Board, and the Chairman of KAMCO. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Chayam Service Cooperative Bank, a member of the Tholicode Grama Panchayat, a member of the Kilimanoor Agricultural Rural Development Bank, a member of the Ayurveda College Development Committee, and a member of the Medical College Development Committee.