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Former Indian Administrative Service officer Divya Mittal has said her newly formed party, Jan Neeti Bharat, will field candidates in all 403 constituencies of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

 

Addressing a gathering in Mirzapur, Mittal sought public support for the party’s first electoral contest and specifically confirmed that Jan Neeti Bharat would also nominate a candidate in Chunar. She also garlanded a statue of Nishadraj during the event.

 

“We will field a candidate in Chunar as well. I seek your support. We intend to field candidates across all 403 seats, wherever we find strong contenders,” she said. A video of her speech has been widely circulated on social media.

 

Mittal entered politics shortly after taking voluntary retirement from the IAS. She announced the formation of Jan Neeti Bharat earlier this month, saying the party would put citizens at the centre of policymaking and keep the government accountable throughout its five-year term, rather than only during elections.

 

Announcing the party’s name on October 15, she said, “Politics rules over you. In Jan Neeti, you will be the ones who rule.”

 

Mittal is an alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Bengaluru and previously worked as a Wall Street trader. She resigned from the IAS after a 13-year career before entering politics. She has said that her appeal to people to join politics received an overwhelming response, with many people contacting a phone number she had shared.

 

Explaining the rationale behind her political venture, Mittal said the central issue was not the number of political parties but the fact that many people were not being heard. She said existing political arrangements often position MLAs as intermediaries between citizens and the government, whereas representatives of Jan Neeti Bharat would be required to remain directly accountable to the public.

 

She also said the party did not have the funds for extensive advertising. Instead, Jan Neeti Bharat plans to rely on door-to-door campaigning, with each household functioning as an office and every supporter taking on the role of a campaigner.