From teashop dishwasher to Kerala minister, Bindu Krishna has come a long way

KOLLAM: The young girl who once worked as a dishwasher at her father's tea shop will take oath as Kerala’s minister today in the UDF cabinet. In addition to working at the tea shop, Bindu Krishna used to complete all household chores before rushing to attend school.

In the early days, Bindu Krishna's father, P. Sukumaran, was in the chit fund. Her mother, B. Vasumathi, was a cashew worker. Bindu did not endure any difficulty till her second grade. Suddenly, her mother's health deteriorated after a surgery at the district hospital. Bindu’s father had to constantly take care of her mother and run between hospitals. Bindu Krishna and her older brother were taken care of by their grandmother. The treatment did not have much effect, and her mother became very frail and was unable to do any household chores. With that, Bindu took up duty in the kitchen and managed her studies in between.

When her father started a tea shop to get his life back on track, Bindu joined him. She made it a habit to study extensively at night after finishing work at the tea shop. Even when she became a KSU leader during her college days, Bindu never took a leave from her father's tea shop.

Despite contesting from the college union to parliament, the victory in Kollam is Bindu’s first in electoral politics. She had unsuccessfully contested from S.N. College, UUC, Kollam District Panchayat, Kollam, Chathannur Assembly constituencies and Attingal to Parliament. In 2021, she lost to M. Mukesh in Kollam by just 2072 votes. After this, Bindu became more active in the constituency and engaged in grassroots work, which made sure that 2026 would be hers.