Biography

Dr. R. Bindu
Minister for Higher Education & Social Justice
Abbreviation: M(H.Edn&SJ)
Constituency: Irinjalakuda
Portfolios: Collegiate Education, Technical Education, Universities (Except Agriculture, Veterinary, Fisheries, Medical and Digital Universities), Entrance Examinations, National Cadet Corps, Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP), Social Justice

Dr. R Bindu, incumbent Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice, was the former vice principal and head of the Department of English at Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur. She was elected as an MLA from the Irinjalakuda constituency in 2021. Born to N Radhakrishnan and K K Shanthakumari in Kodungallur on May 31, 1967, Bindu entered the public sphere as a student leader of the SFI.

She first became a member of the Calicut University Syndicate at the age of 18 as a student representative, and later as a teachers' representative. She was also a part of the Calicut University Senate and the Academic Council. Bindu, who is an accomplished poet and writer in both English and Malayalam languages, completed her MA in English Literature with third rank from St Joseph's College, Irinjalakuda, affiliated to the Calicut University. She went on to pursue her MPhil (Marxist Literary Criticism and Semiotics: An Inquiry into Meaning and Ideology) from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and her PhD (Destabilizing Patriarchal Discursive Practices: Subversion and Revision in Angela Carter's Fiction) from the Calicut University. Bindu has served twice as a Thrissur corporation councilor and was the first woman mayor of the corporation. Moreover, she was a member of the Advisory Board of the first Kerala State Higher Education Council, and has also served as a state resource member of the National Literacy Mission.

She is a part of the Central Executive Committee of the All India Democratic Women's Association and a former member of the state working committee of the AKPCTA. She is also a member of the CPI(M) Thrissur District Committee. Her illustrious political career apart, Bindu is a proficient art aficionado. She has been trained in Bharatanatyam for 10 years, besides spending 13 years as a disciple of Kalanilayam Raghavan to learn the taxing art form of Kathakali. Bindu is married to senior CPI(M) leader A Vijayaraghavan. Their son Harikrishnan is an advocate.