Former IAS Officer Divya Mittal Launches Jan Neeti Bharat to Contest 2027 UP Polls

Former Indian Administrative Service officer Divya Mittal launched a new political party, Jan Neeti Bharat, on Thursday and said it will contest the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. She will herself stand from the Mirzapur Sadar constituency, according to reports of her announcement.

In a video posted on X, Mittal, who took voluntary retirement on 30 August after 13 years in the service, said the party would place people at the centre of policymaking and hold the government accountable throughout its five-year term rather than only on election day. “Politics rules over you. In Jan Neeti, you will be the ones who rule,” she said. She has repeatedly stated that she will not join any existing party and intends to build a platform directly with citizens.

Mittal is a 2013-batch Uttar Pradesh-cadre officer who served as district magistrate in Mirzapur and Deoria. She is an alumna of IIT Delhi and IIM Bengaluru and previously worked as a trader on Wall Street. After her resignation she said she wanted to become the voice of people whose grievances often fail to reach government offices. She has described Uttar Pradesh as her karmabhoomi and ruled out using caste as an electoral card.

Her decision to enter politics independently has drawn interest from both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party ahead of the state polls. Earlier reports of a possible alignment with the Congress were rejected by Mittal, who has maintained that her initiative will remain outside established party structures. She has listed rural infrastructure, unsafe roads, examination paper leaks, and employment concerns linked to artificial intelligence among the issues she intends to raise.

The announcement comes months before the 2027 assembly elections. Mittal has said that if she contests she will seek public suggestions on the campaign. She has shared contact numbers and invited people who support her approach to join the effort. Political observers note that her administrative record in Mirzapur, including work on water supply in Lahuria Dah village, gives her a local base in the seat she has now chosen.

Jan Neeti Bharat has not yet released a formal manifesto or organisational structure beyond Mittal’s public statements. She has emphasised intent, justice, and long-term thinking over short-term political positioning. The party’s entry adds another independent or new formation to an already crowded Uttar Pradesh electoral field that includes the Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party, and Congress-led alliances.