India’s “Cockroach” youth movement vows to continue protests after leaders’ release, demanding the election chief resign over voter-list changes

Leaders of India’s youth-led “Cockroach” movement vowed on Sunday to continue their campaign for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation after being released from detention in New Delhi. The group’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, and other leaders were detained on Saturday after their flight from Mumbai landed, ahead of a planned demonstration against a nationwide voter-roll revision.

The revision, known as the Special Intensive Revision, has removed more than 130 million names from voter lists since last year, according to the Associated Press. Critics say the changes could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party; the Election Commission and the party deny manipulation and say the exercise is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries. Earlier protests by the movement over exam paper leaks led to the education minister’s resignation in July.