Advocate Bindu Krishna, 44, began her political career as a KSU member. She was the general secretary of Youth Congress and President of Mahila Congress at the State level. She now holds the reigns of the Kollam district committee of the Indian National Congress and is the second woman to be in that position. She is in conversation with Brand Kerala, sharing her political and personal experiences in life.
How was your entry into politics and why did you choose to be in Congress? Politics is there in my blood. My father was a regional party leader. He always asked me to read newspapers daily. By reading newspapers, I got an idea about the world around and political developments happening around us. Also, my home is adjacent to a junction and during my young age, all the discussions relating to politics were held in that junction. Indira Gandhi influenced me in many ways. My serious involvement in politics began when I joined S N College, Kollam. During the college union elections, all students used to get involved in election campaigning. The routine tussle with SFI activists during those days is still afresh in my mind. I strongly fought against their move to restrict students from joining other outfits since I found it totally undemocratic. My constant interaction with the district and State committees of KSU actually elevated me as a full time political activist. I strongly feel that Nationalism is a term that can only be related to the Congress party. It is the party which fought for the freedom of this country and has the broad mind to accept anyone irrespective of caste, creed and culture. Though the Communist party claims that they stand for the downtrodden, it is unfortunate that they are forgetting their ideologies and objectives when they come to power in the State. But there are a few communist leaders who still live according to their ideologies and thoughts. I do respect them very much. You are the second woman becoming the president of a DCC in Kerala. How do you feel? I reached this position after putting in years of service for the party. Sarawsathy Kunjikrishnan was the former Kollam DCC president. She was a role model for all of us. She was a hard core activist of our party. Her husband was a senior leader of the Congress party. She became the president after the death of her husband and handled that position gracefully. When I became the DCC president, I first went to meet Saraswathy teacher. We have not seen any woman as powerful and strong as Indira Gandhi in Congress party. What is your opinion? Yes I agree. Indiraji was an ultimate source of energy for everyone. She faced many challenges both in her political and personal life. She never received complete support from her family. The imprisonment of her father, the illness of her mother, differences with her husband and father’s death might have affected her life. The Time Magazine once wrote, “Troubled India in the hands of a woman”. Nobody can replace Indiraji who relentlessly lived for the nation and ultimately sacrificed herself for the country. At the same time we should not ignore the role played by Sonia Gandhi in resurrecting the Congress party from another crisis. She is also a wonderful leader and powerful in her own way. You are a politician, an advocate and above all a housewife. How do you manage being all these together? My family was financially not sound to support my studies. I struggled a lot during that period. The number of girls joining active politics was also less during those days. So, I had to interact with boys most of the time and that was enough for some to spread rumors about me. But I was never affected by any of these and I travelled ahead with my objectives. My husband is a very supportive person. He finds solution to most of the problems I face and encourages me a lot. Attending party programmes with a kid in hand was a great challenge for me. But I could manage them all since my family stood like a strong pillar beside me. I am a staunch believer of God and sometimes I can feel the power that leads me through all hard situations. My native place is in Kattachal, near Chathannoor. My mother died in the year 2000. Father stays with me in Kollam. I have a brother. My husband is Adv. Krishnakumar who is the General Secretary of DCC and a Syndicate member of Kerala University. We were together in Law College and took part in political activities. He is my best friend. We have a son, Sree Krishna, studying in seventh standard.
