'I Don't Know, Who is He?' Assam CM On Jignesh Mevani's Arrest

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday claimed ignorance when asked about Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, who was arrested last night, in connection with allegedly offensive tweets about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I don't know. Who is he? I'm not aware of the specifics. Who will do vendetta politics when I don't know him?" the Chief Minister said when reporters sought his reaction to Mevani's arrest.

Following the Mevani's arrest, Congress has claimed a 'conspiracy'.

Assam police on Wednesday arrested, Mevani, an Independent MLA from the Vadgam constituency of Gujarat under the IT Act following his tweets about PM Modi.

He was arrested following a complaint filed by Arup Kumar Dey, a BJP leader from Kokrajhar, who had filed a complaint against him.

"Kokrajhar police arrested Congress Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani from Palanpur Circuit House last night," ANI quoted Kokrajhar Superintendent of Police Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar as saying.

The First Information Report (FIR) lists charges like criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between communities, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and sections of the Information Technology Act.

After learning of his arrest, Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor and other Congress leaders rushed to Ahmedabad airport and shouted slogans against the BJP government.

They also alleged that the police refused to show an FIR or reveal the reason for arresting Mevani.

The Vadgam MLA is a Dalit leader who first emerged along with Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakore as the youth faced challenging the BJP dominance in Gujarat during the 2017 Assembly elections.

Also read: IPL Betting Racket Busted In Nagaon, Six People Arrested

Also watch: