Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, who got bail in two cases filed against him in Assam, said there was a systematic attempt to silence the voice of dissent under the current regime.

The independent MLA, before leaving for Gujarat almost 10 days after he was arrested by the Assam police, said: “Such false cases were orchestrated by the BJP and the RSS, and the Assam police were instructed to carry out this by the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office).”

Mevani was arrested by the Assam police on April 20 from Gujarat, accusing him of posting “objectionable” tweets against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was granted bail last Monday by a Kokrajhar court, but was re-arrested on the same day in another case filed by a lady police officer. The district sessions court in Barpeta on Friday granted him bail in the second case, citing lack of prima facie evidence.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that the lady officer had sought permission to move the Gauhati High Court against the order of the district sessions court. Sarma said: “The file has come to me, and I will look into it. I do not know the details of the case. The lady officer had filed an FIR alleging that Mevani misbehaved with her. She filed the complaint in her individual capacity and police investigated. The state government has nothing to do with the case.”

Mevani said after lawyers, journalists and rights activists, now opposition MLAs were targeted by the regime. “There were two fake FIRs against me, and the Assam police arrested me. How is this going to solve the unemployment, farmers’ and other problems of Assam.”

He added: “The BJP wants violence and hate. For my tweet, police had sought 14 days’ remand. They even slapped a false case against me from a lady police officer … This is nothing but an act of cowardice. They (BJP) wanted to break my spirit. Let them have as many FIRs as they can, and I will not budge even an inch.”

Mevani said: “The court has stated that the FIRs against me are not maintainable and done with mala fide intention. The court has stated that Assam is becoming a police state and democracy is threatened and rule of law is in danger. The BJP wants to replace the constitution with Manusmriti.”