Jignesh Mevani (alternatively Mewani; born 11 December 1980) is an Indian politician, lawyer, activist and former journalist serving as the representative of the Vadgam constituency in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly since 2017.

He was particularly impressed by Saumya Joshi who was an associate professor and dramatist at the college and by the faculty member Sanjay Bhave who introduced him to various historical and contemporary figures of social activism in Gujarat.

[4] In his testimony, he states that he "realised that idealism and realism are two different things" and came to the final decision to quit career as a journalist after watching the Gujarati documentary on farmers' suicides called Khedu Mora Re''.

[6] Mevani states that he drew his last salary of ₹15,000 in August 2007 and relied on 10–15 friends to provide him with ₹1,000–1,500 for his monthly expenses in order to continue working as a full time activist.

[15] The momentum garnered in the demonstration led the assembly to conclude with the decision to carry out a swabhiman yatra (dignity march) on foot,[15] from Ahmedabad to Una, covering a distance of 380 km.

[18] It began on 5 August and was led by Mevani along with a core group of 70 marchers, the numbers swelled up to thousands throughout the duration of the march as Dalits from across the state joined along various parts of it.

[7] He coined the slogan "Gaaye nu puchhdu taame rakho, aamne amaari jameen aapo" (you keep the cow’s tail, give us our land) which came to be in widespread use throughout the protests.

[22] From 13 August onwards, the eighth day of the march, as the group approached closer to Una, locals from non-SC villages and Hindu nationalists began attacking the procession with stones, blockading their route and harassing the participants.

[18] Due to the attacks on the march, the organisers were fearful of an incident on the day and decided to invite only two speakers who were already in the media spotlight, Mevani himself and the student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

[21][28] He was also involved in the efforts of UDALS to form an alliance with the large network of Julahas (weavers) composed primarily of Dalit converts to Islam, another targeted community in atrocities on the pretext of cow protection.

[15] Mevani employed the threat of mass civil disobedience after the government's refusal to negotiate,[29] the proposed rail roko agitation was planned to begin on 1 October,[30] at the Maninagar railway station in Ahmedabad.

[18] In midst of the protests, Mevani was arrested in the evening of 16 September at the Ahmedabad airport on his return from an event at New Delhi and put under detention for the duration of Narendra Modi's visit to Gujarat on his birthday.

Drawing criticism at the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Mevani encouraged the workers to strike if they needed to, stating that the prime minister and Bollywood stars who had promoted themselves through the mission could clean the city themselves if the government continued to refuse basic pay for them.

Gujarat Farming Society), and Atul Patel, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader were also detained on the day for declaring their support for the agitation.

[31] Following release, Mevani accompanied by a team of RDAM activists presented a statement at the district magistrate's office which outlined the reason for holding protests and their demands, which according to him was dismissed by the officials.

The dismissal prompted the RDAM and Mevani to commence plans for disrupting the summit by reviving the idea of the rail roko agitation which had been cancelled earlier in October 2016 with the beginning of the negotiations.

The auditorium saw a full attendance and featured participants from across the country including Kumar, the Manav Suraksha Kanoon committee member Anil Chamdia and the relatives of the victims of various lynching cases.

It was also attended by activists of the Pendu Mazdoor Union who had arrived from the state of Punjab to support their cause, and the members of the Jaipur Hangama Natak Dal and Budhan Theatre of Ahmedabad, who volunteered to perform at the gathering.

On 17 July, while they had stopped at the village of Soneth, they were informed by the police personnel that Dileep Rana, the district magistrate (DM) of Banaskantha had taken up the issue and would ensure the physical possession of land.

[45][49] During the gathering, the Dalits from Lavara reached the rally and informed them that their land was illegally occupied by a group of Rajputs who had threatened them including their sarpanch (village head).

[3] Local activists such as Dalpat Bhatia with a team of 1,000 people from the Banaskantha Dalit Sangathan and Ishaqbhai Maderia from the Jan Sangharsh Manch volunteered to campaign for him.

[51] Four separate groups emerged to campaign for him; his associates from Ahmedabad, human rights activists and volunteers from Delhi, local communities and organisations in Vadgam and the Congress party workers.

[8] In contrast to Mevani's campaign, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a well organised electoral machinery, the Hindustan Times in a later report compared it to a David vs Goliath situation.

The Bill created a governance authority empowered to take punitive action against engaging in activities which would harm the "tourism potential" of the site, including begging, hawking and unauthorised development.

[59] Mevani was arrested by the Assam Police on 20 April 2022 after he made a tweet criticising the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with charges under the Indian Penal Code sections for criminal conspiracy, hurting religious sentiment and threat to peace.

[60][61] The BJP leader who filed the complaint stated that it was done to send a message to people that they need to be careful about making negative posts against the Prime Minister.

[60] Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot stated that the arrest was an attack on democratic norms and an example of the dictatorial attitude of the Modi administration and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

[68] The President of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, K. T. Rama Rao reiterated the statement in Mevani's tweet, that Modi was following Nathuram Godse's ideology and dared the government to arrest him as well.

[6] He subscribes to the school of thought in Ambedkarism, propounded by Anand Teltumbde, according to which social transformation is not achievable by solely focusing on caste as it leads to repeated division within the movement and that it needs to forge a class unity among all marginalised groups.

[83] Described as a part of a new emergent left wing in India, Mevani has formed direct associations with individuals such as Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, Gauri Lankesh, Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid and Umar Khalid, among others.