Ex-IAS Divya Mittal joins politics, sets record straight after Rahul

Ex-IAS Divya Mittal joins politics, sets record straight after Rahul-Congress buzz

Former UP-cadre IAS officer Divya Mittal has said that she would enter politics without joining any party. Her statement puts to rest speculation that she was going to join the Congress, which was fuelled by the BJP's claims that Mittal held a secret meeting with Rahul Gandhi.

Former UP-cadre IAS officer Divya Mittal announced her entry into politics nearly a month after resigning from the civil services and said that she wouldn't join any party, putting an end to speculation that she could join the Congress. Speculation intensified following a BJP leader's claim that she had allegedly held a secret meeting with Rahul Gandhi.

In a video message on social media, Mittal on Tuesday said she would begin her political journey from Uttar Pradesh but would not join any political party, saying she wanted to work directly with people.

The 2013-batch Uttar Pradesh cadre officer resigned from the IAS on August 30 after around 13 years in the civil services. Her resignation had triggered speculations of his entry into politics after BJP spokesperson Prashant Umrao alleged in a now-deleted post on X that Mittal had met Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, "under the cover of darkness".

Umrao linked Mittal's resignation to the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and suggested that she could join the Congress before the polls.

Mittal's latest video on Tuesday (September 29) offers a different picture of her political plans.

"I resigned from IAS last month and left many questions behind. This is a big task, and I was gathering courage. Today I have come to answer. What next? The answer is politics," she said in the nine-minute-long video shared across her social media platforms.

The 42-year-old former IAS officer made it clear that her political journey would not begin under the banner of an established party.

"Politics not with any party, but with the people," Mittal, the Haryana-native said, adding that Uttar Pradesh had been her "karmabhoomi (working place)" and would be the starting point of her political journey.

Explaining her decision, Divya Mittal said she "wanted to become the voice of people whose concerns often fail to reach government offices".

She raised questions about schools that are sanctioned but never built, land allotted on lease but not handed over, poor roads and deaths caused by them, and the future of students amid examination paper leaks.

She recalled an inspection during her tenure as District Magistrate of Mirzapur. In Lahuria Dah village, a woman who did not even have a drinking water connection at home did not ask for a house or pension. Instead, she asked for a school for children in her village.

Mittal said she sanctioned the school after checking the required rules and approvals. But even three years later, construction had not begun.

"Tell me, what wasn't available? Funds, rules, or approvals? Everything was available, but there was no intent," she said.

The episode, for Mittal, highlighted what she called the gap between government decisions and their implementation. She said such experiences contributed to her decision to move from administration into politics.

The former IAS officer also ruled out beginning her political journey by joining an established party. She said she wanted to work with citizens and build her political initiative around their concerns.

She also said she would not use caste as a political tool.

Her remarks come ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, making her announcement politically significant, although she has not announced a constituency or said whether she will contest a particular election.

She appealed to people to support her initiative and shared a WhatsApp number for those who wanted to connect with her.

The announcement provides a clear answer to the speculation that followed her resignation. Mittal said she is entering politics, but her stated plan is to remain outside established party structures.

Mittal is a 2013-batch IAS officer and an alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore. Before entering the civil service, she worked as an exotic derivatives trader in London.

During her administrative career, she served as District Magistrate of Sant Kabir Nagar, Mirzapur and Deoria.

She also held positions including Chief Development Officer of Gonda, Joint Managing Director of the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Authority and Vice-Chairperson of the Bareilly Development Authority.

Mittal gained wider public recognition during her tenure as Mirzapur District Magistrate, particularly for her work to bring piped drinking water to the remote hilltop village of Lahuria Dah in Mirzapur district.

Mittal was transferred out of Mirzapur in September 2023 and later served as CEO of the Uttar Pradesh Rural Road Development Agency before her resignation from the IAS.

Her entry into politics marks a shift from administration to electoral public life. But for now, the IAS officer-turned-politician has chosen to keep her political project independent of any established party. This stance has directly contradicted the earlier claim and speculation that linked her resignation to a possible Congress entry after the alleged meeting with Rahul Gandhi.