Vanathi Srinivasan

Vanathi Srinivasan was born on 6 June 1970 to her parents Kandasamy and Poovathal at Uliyampalayam Village near Thodamuthur block in Coimbatore. She is the eldest child in the family and she has a brother named Shiva Kumar. She did her schooling at Thondamuthur Higher Secondary School and topped the batch in Chemistry. She went on to pursue her UG program in Chemistry from PSG Arts & Science College. Later, she developed an interest to become a self-employed individual and set herself on the path to becoming a lawyer. She graduated from Dr.Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai in 1993 and went on to achieve her Master's Degree in Law from the University of Madras in the branch of International Constitution in 1995.[2]

Vanathi is a lawyer by profession.[3] She started her professional career in 1993, working for Shri. B.S.Gnanadesikan, Senior Advocate (Formerly Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President). She has been practicing law in Chennai High Court for more than two decades. Vanathi's prominence as a lawyer came when she appeared for more than a dozen freedom fighters and ensured they could get freedom fighters’ person, for which they were fighting for decades.

She had an active career as a lawyer and she served as a Standing Counsel for the Government of India from 2002-2004 and also for the Southern Railway in the same period.

In 2012, Vanathi received the Outstanding Woman Lawyer award from Mr.Justice Iqbal, the then Chief Justice of Madras High Court, who was subsequently elevated to the Supreme Court of India. As Vanathi stepped into active politics, she has been maintaining the balance between her career as a Lawyer and as a Politician.

She is a former state secretary of BJP Tamilnadu and also served as board member of Central Board of Film Certification.[4][5] She contested in 2011 & 2016 Tamil Nadu State Assembly election as BJP candidate.

In 1988, Vanathi became an active member of ABVP (an all India students organization affiliated to RSS) while she was a student at PSG Arts & Science College at Coimbatore. She was appointed ABVP's college unit Secretary and then was promoted to City Joint Secretary for Coimbatore.

She led the agitations at Coimbatore against Kashmiri militants and Pakistani instigation in 1989. She was detained for a day for burning the flag of Pakistan in front of the office of Commissioner of Police in Coimbatore.

While pursuing her UG Law program at Chennai, she was elevated to the post of State Joint Secretary in ABVP between 1990-1991 & 1991- 1992 and was also made its National Executive Member.

In 1992, she was arrested and detained in Chintadripet Police Station along with other ABVP activists, when they pulled down and burned obscene movie banners that were placed in a theater at Mount road, Chennai.

During her time as a student at Dr.Ambedkar Government Law College, Vanathi played a significant role in organizing a State-level Law Students Convention under the banner of FOTLAWS (Forum Of Tamilnadu Law Students) in 1992, wherein, several demands were made for the betterment of Law education in Tamil Nadu and also for the establishment of a University for Law-education in the name of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.

She was instrumental in organizing several such programs including large-scale medical camps, blood donation camps, and temple cleaning programs in and around Chennai city.

In 1993, she was a part of a five-member fact-finding team that visited Chinnampathi, a hill hamlet, in Coimbatore, wherein, tribal women were sexually assaulted by few members of the Task Force, which was hunting the notorious bandit Veerappan.

Vanathi Srinivasan's association with the BJP spans for more than three decades. She has been a member of BJP since 1993 and has held various positions in the party since 1999. Her primary focus is on helping the underprivileged, particularly aiding impoverished women. Vanathi Srinivasan has also led several demonstrations seeking Total Alcohol Prohibition in TN. She had filed Public Interest Litigations in Madras High Court for the closure of liquor shops and has received favourable orders, and taking up causes for downtrodden and women in particular.

She was appointed a State Secretary of the BJP Tamilnadu in 2013 and continued until 2014 when she was appointed as the General Secretary of the BJP Tamilnadu, a post she continued till June 2020 when she was elevated as the State Vice President of the BJP Tamilnadu. On 28 October 2020, Bharatiya Janata Party National President Jagat Prakash Nadda appointed Vanathi Srinivasan as the National President of the BJP Mahila Morcha[6]

Vanathi is married to Shri Su.Srinivasan. A student leader in the 1980s, he was the State Joint Organizing Secretary and State Secretary for ABVP Tamilnadu. Shri. Srinivasan practiced in Supreme Court with Shri.Prashant Bhushan. He also served as Assistant Solicitor General of India (2014-2017) for Madras High Court and is the Senior Central Government Standing Counsel for Central Administrative Tribunal, Madras.

He is also the North Tamil Nadu State President for VHP.

Mr. and Mrs. Srinivasan have two sons - Adarsh V. Srinivasan, the eldest, and Kailash V. Srinivasan.

Adarsh a graduate in B.E., from PSG Tech, Coimbatore, now works for Cisco Systems Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru.

Kailash V. Srinivasan has joined the Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat and is an aspiring lawyer.[8]

Vanathi Founded Thamarai Shakthi Trust – an NGO working for Women Empowerment. She was the State Organiser for Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations.[9][10] Vanathi supported Asian games medallist Santhi Soundarajan's Justice for Santhi campaign to end the sex verification test for women in sports. She also initiated water conservation projects in Coimbatore to protect the local water bodies.[11]

Kovai Makkal Sevai Maiyyam is an NGO founded in 2017 by Vanathi Srinivasan which focuses on the welfare of the residents of Coimbatore and surrounding areas.[12]

New India Forum was formed by Vanathi Srinivasan in 2019 as a think tank to bring together industry elites and young professionals.[13]

Vanathi openly supports the rights of gender and sexual minorities in India along with few of her political party members including Arun Jaitley. She launched the first book on the LGBT community in the Tamil language penned by Gopi Shankar Madurai.[14][15][16][17]