Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi over MLA Jignesh Mevani's arrest, 'Cannot imprison truth'

Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the arrest of Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani, Rahul Gandhi called it "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional", further adding that the Prime Minister cannot "imprison the truth to crush dissent". This came shortly after the Congress MLA was arrested on Wednesday night over a controversial tweet he made targeting PM Modi. 

Taking to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi shared a news article on Mevani's arrest and said, "Modi ji, you can try to crush dissent by abusing the state machinery. But you can never imprison the truth."

Similarly, the Congress on its official Twitter handle also targeted PM Modi and the BJP government, further calling the arrest an insult to the people who elected him as public representative. 

"The undemocratic manner in which Assam Police has detained Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani is an anti-constitutional move and an insult to the people who have elected him as a public representative. Congress workers will raise their voice against oppression," Congress said on its official Twitter handle.

Furthermore, in other tweets, the grand old party was seen showing fierce opposition to the arrest and further asked the people to raise their voices against BJP. 

In other reactions from the party, Congress leader KC Venugopal also took to Twitter and called Mevani's arrest "unlawful and unconstitutional".

"The unlawful and unconstitutional arrest of Jignesh Mevani at midnight by Assam Police is the latest proof of authoritarianism under BJP. Such an arrest of a people's representative not only betrays their fear of criticism but also attacks the foundations of our democracy," he said in a tweet. 

Congress MLA arrested over tweets on PM Modi

Congress leader from Gujarat, Jignesh Mevani was arrested by the Assam police on Wednesday night from the Palanpur circuit house, informed his team on Instagram. 

As informed by the team, Mevani was arrested around 11:30 PM by a team of Kokrajhar district police in Assam. Notably, he was arrested following an FIR filed against him for targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi through offensive tweets. On the other hand, his Twitter account also shows two of his recently made tweets being withheld in response to "legal demand".

According to a document shared by officials of the Assam Police, an FIR was lodged over Mevani's tweet a few days back, however, it remains withheld by Twitter. The tweet was about Nathuram Godse.

Image: PTI