‘People Should Rule’: Ex-IAS Officer Divya Mittal Launches Party for 2027 UP Polls

Former IAS officer Divya Mittal, who earned public attention for bringing piped drinking water to a remote Uttar Pradesh village and was later caught in a controversy over the inauguration of the project, on Thursday launched her political party, Jan Neeti Bharat, announcing that it would contest the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Mittal said her party would put people at the centre of policymaking and ensure that governments remain accountable to citizens throughout their five-year terms, rather than seeking their support only during elections.

“Politics rules over you. In Jan Neeti, you will be the ones who rule,” she said in a video message posted on X, outlining her vision of citizen-led governance.

Her political entry comes after a 13-year career in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), during which she served as district magistrate of Sant Kabir Nagar, Mirzapur and Deoria. A 2013-batch Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, Mittal was serving as special secretary in the state’s Revenue Department when she resigned from the service. Her resignation, announced on August 30, was accepted in September.

An alumna of IIT Delhi and IIM Bengaluru, Mittal had previously worked as a trader in London before returning to India and joining the civil services.

One of the most widely discussed episodes of her administrative career unfolded in Lahuria Dah village in Mirzapur, where residents had struggled for decades to access drinking water and depended on tankers. During her tenure as district magistrate, a piped-water project was implemented to bring water directly to households.

On August 30, 2023, Mittal performed a jal pujan ceremony after water reached the village for the first time in decades. However, the event triggered a controversy after local elected representatives, including the MLA and MP, were reportedly not invited. A local BJP leader complained to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, arguing that the established protocol had not been followed.

Mittal was transferred from Mirzapur on September 1, 2023, and subsequently remained without a posting for several months. The episode fuelled public debate over administrative protocol, political recognition and the relationship between civil servants and elected representatives. The water pipeline was also reportedly damaged days after the ceremony, disrupting the supply.

The controversy remains part of the public discussion surrounding her career, although Mittal has not publicly established it as the reason for her resignation.