Police in Delhi arrested more than 2,000 protesters calling for the resignation of the country’s election minister on Saturday. Members of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), a youth-led movement calling for electoral reform, allege that the deletion of over 130 million names from India’s electoral roll favours the far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP has denied allegations that the deletions disproportionately affect Muslim voters and other minorities less likely to support the Hindu nationalist government. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s party said election data showed the deleted names include 28 million people who had died, 63 million who had relocated and 30 million who could not be traced. Members of the CJP have joined opposition leaders in demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Jumar, with protesters taking to the streets daily since the beginning of October. On Saturday, police shut down six metro stations and deployed thousands of officers across Delhi to rein in protesters. The internet was shut down in parts of the city and the designated protest site was sealed off. A home ministry official told Reuters that 2,000 people were detained, though some media outlets reported up to 7,000 arrests. Among those arrested were the leaders of the CJP, who were disembarking a flight to Delhi when they were detained. They were released the next day. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called on “all opposition parties, civil society groups [and] all those who believe in democracy” to join a march to the Supreme Court which he led on Monday.

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