He was born on 18 September 1946 in Ponda, Goa. His father is Sitaram Naik. His biodata lists him as an "agriculturist, political and social worker", and his home is in the central Goa sub-district of Ponda. His "favourite pastime and recreation" activities are listed as gardening, music, reading and watching TV, while his "special interest" is listed as social service. Ravi Naik has been the lone legislator in Goa who was a national volleyball player. He has been chief minister for just a six-day stint in 1994. He plays badminton, and according to the Times of India he "began his career by owning a bar and restaurant in Ponda".
Naik contested his first elections in 1980 on a Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party ticket, but lost. After quitting that party in 1991, he became the state's chief minister then and again in 1994. He has been a member of the Goa Legislative Assembly since 1984, but not continuously. In 1990, he was part of the team which topped the then ruling Congress party, leading to intercine political instability that dominated much of that decade and more. Besides chairing committees in the Goa Assembly, he has also been a Cabinet minister at the regional level holding—at different times—the portfolios of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Information & Publicity, Home, Town & Country Planning, Personnel, General Administration, Vigilance, Finance, PWD, Housing, Science and Technology and Printing & Stationary. Naik lost the 2012 elections to Lavoo Mamledar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. According to the official website of the Goa Assembly, he won the 2007 elections on an Indian National Congress ticket from the Ponda constituency, where a total of 24557 votes were polled. Naik received 9972 votes, and won by a margin of 1656 votes. He also won the 2002 Assembly elections, and the 1989 elections. Ravi Naik again got elected to the Goa Assembly in the state election of 2017 with a margin of 3000 votes. He is the member of 5 member Congress Legislative Party of Goa and remained with the party during the two third split in the CLP in 2019 where 10 MLAs defected to the ruling BJP.
In 1998, after a loss in local politics, he was elected to the national Indian parliament. In 1999, he took over as Leader of the Goa Opposition, and between 2000 and 2002 he was Deputy Chief Minister in the then Bharatiya Janata Party government in Goa. "I have not been in elections from yesterday or today. I've been in politics since 1967... and we were against the merger," Naik said in the Prudent TV interview below. His son Roy Naik has also been involved in local politics.
Controversies
In an interview with Prudent TV, he defended his handling of the Police in Goa, which had come in for sharp criticism during his tenure at their helm as Home Minister. His ascent to power for his first tenure in 1990-91 was questioned in a Supreme Court of India case over his assumption to power with Indian National Congress support, apparently because of the disqualification he was facing. The then Opposition BJP made allegations against Naik and his son Roy Naik of involvement with the coastal illegal narcotic trade. Opposition politicians and a section of the media highlighted charges by Swedish model Lucky Farmhouse which suggested the Naik or his kin were someway connected with the narcotics controversy.
