R. Srilekha, Kerala’s first woman IPS officer and former DG, is contesting the 2026 Assembly elections from Vattiyurkavu as a BJP candidate.
R Srelekha, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer with over three decades of service from 1987 to 2020, was also the first woman IPS officer and then the first woman Director General of Police (DGP). She is now competing from Vattiyurkavu constituency in Thiruvananthapuram as BJP candidate in 2026 Kerala Assembly elections.
Srelekha entered politics after joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2024, and in 2025, she was elected as councilor from Ward No. 41, Sastamangalam, in Thiruvananthapuram.
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5 key facts about R. Srilekha
- R. Sreelekha was born on 25 December 1960 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, to Professor N. Velayudhan Nair and B. Radhamma. She grew up in an academically inclined family and pursued her higher education in Kerala, later qualifying for the Indian Police Service.
- In the final stage of her police career, R. Srilekha was appointed Director General of Kerala Fire and Rescue Services on 1 June 2020, becoming the first woman DGP to hold an independent position in the state. She retired from this position on 31 December 2020 after completing over 33 years of service in the Indian Police Service.
- Srelekha has received numerous awards for her service in the police force. She was awarded the Presidential Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2004 for her work in the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, and later the Presidential Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2013. Additionally, she received the Meritorious Service Award from the Kerala government in 2007 for her role in solving a high-profile murder case.
- After his retirement from service, R. Srilekha joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was elected to the Assembly from Ward No. 41, Sastamangalam, in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in 2025.
- Sreelekha is now contesting from Vattiyoorkavu constituency in the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections on a BJP ticket, where she faces CPI(M)’s VK Prasanth and Congress leader K. Muraleedharan in a closely watched triangular contest.
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