Former IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, Divya Mittal has announced to enter politics, just a few weeks after leaving the administrative service.
Divya Mittal, a 2013 batch officer, had offered to resign from her post on social media site X on August 30, 2026. She was posted as Special Secretary in the Revenue Department of Uttar Pradesh Government.
Her resignation was accepted in September and now she has released a video message and made it clear that she is going to enter politics, but not by becoming a part of any political party.
She said that she will establish an independent political platform by connecting with the public and with their cooperation.
On his decision to enter politics, he said, "While in administration, he saw cases where despite government approval and money, schools could not be built, land leases did not reach the people and basic facilities remained lacking. That's why she now wants an account of all this.
He has also talked about keeping issues like paper leak and youth employment at the center of his politics.
On his decision to enter politics, he said, "While in administration, he saw cases where despite government approval and money, schools could not be built, land leases did not reach the people and basic facilities remained lacking. That's why she now wants an account of all this.
He has also talked about keeping issues like paper leak and youth employment at the center of his politics.
Skip to Most Read Skip to content
most read
finished
Taking aim at the spokesperson of a particular party, Divya Mittal said, "When I resigned, the spokesperson of a party said that in the dark of night I had met a big leader of a big party." He knew he was lying, his only intention was to scare me. But I am not one to be afraid.
Divya has said that she wants to do a different kind of politics, where there is no need for money, muscle power, caste-religion, only people and their issues are needed.
It is being said that Divya can also contest elections from a seat in Mirzapur. She has also been the DM here and people appreciate her work here a lot.
Since his announcement of entering politics, different and mixed reactions are emerging from politicians and intellectuals on social media.
Divya Mittal offered to join Congress
The then UP Congress President Ajay Rai had welcomed Divya Mittal's entry into politics and invited her to join the Congress.
Former Delhi Education Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia wrote on Twitter, "The country needs educated, dedicated leaders to open good schools and colleges."
“It is true that no one will be found with a red carpet welcome for the politics of this idea, but it is also true that when will anyone be found with a red carpet welcome for anyone who initiates any necessary change?”
UP government minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said, "It is easy to become an IAS but it is very difficult to become an MLA."
Preparation for politics but did not get ticket
But there is a long list of such bureaucrats, who left administrative jobs and entered politics and then have traveled from MLA to MP, from Minister to Chief Minister.
We will mention some of those former bureaucrats in this article.
Like before Divya Mittal, in the same year, another IAS officer Rakesh Verma of UP cadre had resigned from his post.
2013 batch IAS officer Dr. Rakesh Verma took VRS and joined Congress on 9 September.
He said that the country needs to focus on education and strengthening the Constitution and democratic values.
After administrative service, Verma has also been associated with writing and social work. At the time of joining Congress, the party said that he wanted to work in the organization.
skip ahead podcast
Dinbhar: Same voice, new style
Big news from the country and the world that made headlines.
episode
finished
Three years ago, 2011 batch IAS officer Abhishek Singh had resigned from his post. Resignation accepted in February 2024.
There was a lot of talk in the media reports about his contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Jaunpur. There was also hope of getting a ticket from BJP but the ticket was not given in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
After this, there were reports that he wanted to return to work, but this did not happen. Speaking to The Print in 2025, Singh said that he plans to enter politics, but is not in a hurry.
He said that the image of politics in Purvanchal is often associated with muscle power or a particular caste and he wants to change this perception.
In 2026, he also appeared active among the youth in Jaunpur through job fairs and social activities.
The story of 1984 batch IAS officer RCP Singh of UP cadre is also an example of this.
For a time, he was known as a bureaucrat very close to former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
He was also the national president of JDU party. When Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister of Bihar in 2005, RCP was his principal secretary.
In 2010 he took VRS and joined politics. In the same year JDU sent him to Rajya Sabha.
In 2021, he also became Steel Minister in Narendra Modi government. After separating from JDU, he joined BJP and then joined Prashant Kishore's Jan Suraj Party.
These were the people who left their jobs and entered politics. The list of those who entered politics after completing administrative service is even longer.
For example, if some famous names are counted, PL Punia stands out as an important name.
Long list of those who retired and entered politics
Punia, a 1971 batch IAS officer, held important positions in Uttar Pradesh for a long time.
During Mayawati's tenure as Chief Minister, he was also her Principal Secretary and was counted among the most influential bureaucrats of the state.
After retiring in 2005, he turned to Congress.
In the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, he contested as a Congress candidate from Fatehpur seat and stood fifth by getting around 28 thousand votes.
Two years later, in 2009, Punia won the election from Barabanki Lok Sabha seat on Congress ticket. He got more than 3.28 lakh votes and became MP. Later he was also made the Chairman of the National Scheduled Castes Commission.
In 2014, he lost the re-election from Barabanki.
One such name is that of Ram Bahadur. After retirement, he joined BSP and also contested the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from Mohanlalganj seat of Lucknow. He joined BJP in the year 2022.
Ajit Jogi's entry into politics
But if we come from Uttar Pradesh, Ajit Jogi is a prominent name among those who left the IAS job and entered politics. Jogi
Joined IAS in 1971 and worked as collector in different districts of Madhya Pradesh.
In 1986, he left IAS and joined Congress. After coming into politics, he reached Rajya Sabha twice and became a Lok Sabha MP in 1998.
Then in 2000, when Chhattisgarh became a new state by separating from Madhya Pradesh, Congress made Jogi its first Chief Minister.
Jogi had later told that when he was the Collector of Raipur, he had met Rajiv Gandhi.
According to him, in 1986 he received an offer from Rajiv Gandhi's office to join Congress and he was given very little time to decide.
Jogi later separated from Congress and formed his own party, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh.
From IAS to Finance Minister and Foreign Minister
Yashwant Sinha, a 1960 batch IAS officer, worked in the administration for about 24 years and resigned in 1984 and joined active politics. He started with Janata Party and in 1988 he reached Rajya Sabha.
After this he joined BJP. In 1998, he became the Finance Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and later also the Foreign Minister. Later he separated from BJP and also became the opposition's presidential candidate in 2022.
RK Singh, a 1975 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, also held the post of Home Secretary of the country, but in December 2013, he left the administrative service job and joined BJP and won the Lok Sabha elections from Arrah in 2014.
In 2019, he was again elected MP from Arrah. A few years after entering politics, he got the responsibility of Energy Ministry at the Centre. Since 2017, he has been in charge of ministries related to power and renewable energy and became a cabinet minister in 2021.
But in 2024 he lost the election from Ara Lok Sabha seat. At present, he is seen attacking his own party on many occasions.
Former IFS officer Hardeep Singh Puri joined BJP in 2014 after serving for nearly four years and later became a minister in the central government. Former Rajasthan administrative officer Arjun Ram Meghwal also won the Lok Sabha elections from Bikaner on BJP ticket in 2009 by taking VRS.
But there are also some examples where incidents of people leaving bureaucracy and returning back to bureaucracy have also been seen.
Like – Shah Faesal of Jammu and Kashmir. Faisal, who topped the Civil Services Examination in 2010, was the first person from Jammu and Kashmir to pass this examination at the top position. He resigned from IAS in January 2019.
He cited violence in Kashmir and lack of political initiative by the central government as the reasons behind this.
He later formed a political party named Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement. But within about one and a half years, he left politics and returned to administrative service again in 2022.
