Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani had said that he would contest the next election as a Congress candidate.
Guwahati:
Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani will be in judicial custody tonight as his bail order from an Assam court is likely to come tomorrow in connection with a case filed over his tweets on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The court has reserved its order today.
Mr. Mevani was arrested by an Assam Police team from Palanpur in Gujarat on Thursday after a local BJP leader from Kokrajhar filed a complaint against him. Mr Mevani – a staunch critic of PM Modi – has called his arrest “vendetta politics by the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office).”
The 41-year-old has been charged with criminal conspiracy, offenses relating to a place of worship, hurting religious sentiments and abetting breach of the peace.
In his complaint, BJP leader Arup Kumar De has alleged that Mr Mevani’s tweet is “likely to incite a section of the public belonging to a certain community”.
In an interview to NDTV, Mr Dey said Mr Mevani “is trying to divide people with his posts and always speaks negatively about Prime Minister Modi”.
“We are fortunate to have Modiji as our Prime Minister and Mevani is trying to associate his name with the recent (incidents) violence. Is PM Modi responsible for this? He says Godse PM Modi God is there, what proof do they have?” He told NDTV.
The Congress has alleged that the arrests – within 24 hours of the complaint – were made keeping in mind the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat, a state the BJP has been ruling since 1995.
Congress’s Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Modi ji, you can try to quell dissent by abusing the state machinery. But you can never capture the truth.”
Mr. Mevani, an independent MLA from Vadgam seat of Banaskantha, had said that he would contest the next election as a Congress candidate.