Political career

In 1967, she left for London, where she worked with Air India at Bond Street for four years. While working for Air India, she campaigned against the mandatory wearing of skirts in the airlines, after which she became an activist.

In an interview, Karat says she returned to India motivated to work for the people ^[6]. While working in London, she became associated with the anti-imperialist, and anti-war movements during the Vietnam War and Marxist ideology ^[7]. She also attributes many of her political ideals to the economist Devaki Jain, her professor at Miranda House.^[6]

In 1971, she decided to leave her job and return to Calcutta, where she joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) in 1971, under the guidance of B.T. Ranadive. On the suggestion of the party to understand practical politics, she joined the Calcutta University ^[6]. Initially she worked with students in the college campus and later during the Bangladesh warat refugee camps in the city.

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In 1975, she shifted to Delhi and started working as a trade union organiser with textile mill workers in North Delhi. She grew to be active with worker's movements and the Indian women's movements ^[8]. She gained prominence in the campaign for reform of rape laws in the 1980s. Karat resigned from the central committee of the CPI(M)protesting the lack of representation of women. Even today, Brinda stands out as a prominent campaigner for gender issues ^[9].

On 11 April 2005, she was elected to the Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha as a CPI(M) member, for West Bengal.

In 2005, only after the inclusion of 5 women members to the Central Committee did Brinda Karat agree to be nominated to the exclusive 17 member Politburo. [2]. The Politburo is the highest decision-making body of the party and Brinda Karat is its first woman member ^[10].

Brinda Karat (Bengali: বৃন্দা কারাট) (born 17 October 1947)^[1] is a communist politician from India, elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) member, on 11 April 2005 for West Bengal.

In 2005, she became the first woman member of the CPI(M) Politburo ^[2]. She has also been the general secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) from 1993 to 2004 ^[3][4], and thereafter its Vice President ^[5].