An officer and the gentleman: Kerala IAS officer to marry MLA

“I am getting a lot of questions about my marriage. Now I am happily announcing it. I met sub-collector Dr Divya S Iyer in Thiruvananthapuram. When we got closer, we realised the similarities in our ideas, likes and perspective towards life. With the blessings of both families, Divya is joining me as partner,” he posted on the social media site.

Divya, 32, who joined the civil services in 2014, told the media that it was quite “natural” for a sub-collector and a legislator to meet in public functions, and they became “good friends” in time. “It was Sabarinathan’s friends who mooted the (wedding) proposal. There was no politics in the affair, and I admire the personality of Sabarinathan,” she said.

A management graduate, Sabarinathan worked in Bengaluru before joining politics in 2015, after the death of his father. He contested from his late father’s constituency, Aruvikkara, in the bypoll, and, at 31 then, became the youngest MLA in Kerala. He won from the same constituency in the 2016 state elections.

Divya, an MBBS, is the daughter of retired ISRO official Sesha Iyer, a native of Thiruvananthapuram. A classical music enthusiast and said to be a good singer, Divya, while working as assistant collector in Kottayam, had played the role of a nun in a film.