Congress condemns Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani's arrest; dubs move 'unconstitutional'

Coming down heavily on Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani's arrest on Wednesday night, the Congress party affirmed that it would continue to raise its voice against repression. On September 28, 2021, Mevani had extended support to Congress and addressed a press conference at the party headquarters alongside Hardik Patel. While clarifying that he was not formally joining Congress owing to technical reasons as he is an Independent legislator, the young leader announced that he will contest the 2022 Gujarat election on the party's ticket.

Taking to Twitter, the Sonia Gandhi-led party observed, "The undemocratic manner in which the Assam Police has detained Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani is a move against the constitution and an insult to the people who have elected him as a public representative".

It is worth noting that Mevani's vociferous campaign played a key role in Congress bagging 77 seats in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls. With no Congress candidate in the fray, he himself won the Vadgam seat as an Independent by beating BJP's Vijaykumar Chakravarti with a margin of 19,696 votes.

Assam Police arrests Jignesh Mevani

At about 11.30 pm a day earlier, Mevani was taken into custody by the Assam Police from the Palanpur Circuit House. Thereafter, the Kokrajhar Police took him to Ahmedabad from where they boarded a train to Guwahati. As per his team, no FIR copy has been shared with them. However, sources revealed that action was taken against Mevani in pursuance of an FIR over his tweet claiming that PM Modi considers Godse as God and that he should appeal for peace and harmony after communal clashes in Gujarat.

He was booked under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153(A) (promoting enmity between two communities), 295(A), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and sections of the IT Act. Sharing his anguish on Twitter, Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar revealed that he was informed about Mevani's arrest in the middle of the night. Moreover, he mentioned that the Vadgam legislator was not allowed to take his mobile with him. He observed, "Will such justice be meted out to an elected representative of the people"?