Assam Police arrest Dalit leader and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani from Palanpur Circuit House

According to a statement from the legislator's staff, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani was arrested by Assam Police late on Wednesday from the Palanpur circuit House in Gujarat. Later in the day, he will most likely be transported to Assam.

“Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani arrested by Assam police from Palanpur circuit House. Police yet to share the copy of the FIR with us, we have been informed about some case filed against him in Assam and is likely to be deported to Assam tonight,” Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar wrote on Twitter.

Mevani, in September last year, had joined the Congress along with Kumar. A Dalit leader, he first emerged along with Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakore as the youth face challenging the BJP dominance in Gujarat during the 2017 Assembly elections. The Congress hoped that the entry of Kanhaiya and Mevani would be good optics given the fact that several young leaders — Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sushmita Dev, Jitin Prasada, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Laliteshpati Tripathi – had left the party in the last two years.