The planned Cockroach Janta Party rally ran into a wall of official caution on Friday, when authorities shut Central Park in the heart of the capital's central business district hours before the movement's supporters were due to gather. The closure came after two of the youth-led party's leaders were sent to jail this week for five days for demonstrating at a protest site in violation of a ban.

Park shut for two days before the gathering

The civic authority announced late on Thursday that the park would be closed for two days "due to administrative reasons". The park sits in Connaught Place, the shopping and food district where the Cockroach Janta Party and left-wing student groups had urged supporters to assemble on Friday evening to wave and hoist the national flag.

Delhi Police urged people not to join such assemblies, while saying they could facilitate a group of select people to carry the national flag and sing the national anthem at a "suitable place".

• •The park was ordered shut for two days, from late Thursday, for administrative reasons
• •Police asked people to stay away from the assemblies
• •Officers offered to facilitate a select group carrying the flag and singing the anthem elsewhere

Jailed leaders behind the flag call

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke called Friday's flag protest in support of the two detained leaders, who were jailed for five days for demonstrating at a banned protest site. He made his remarks on Thursday.

"Why are you so afraid of cockroaches?" Dipke said Thursday. His message to the government, in his own words, was blunter still:

What the movement demands

The Cockroach Janta Party, together with opposition groups and student organisations, has held almost daily protests this month. Their demand is the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a revision of voter lists under which more than 130 million names have been removed from electoral lists.

The two sides frame the revision differently:

• •Critics say the removals have disproportionately affected ethnic and religious minorities, particularly Muslims
• •Election authorities say the move was intended to eliminate duplicate, deceased and fraudulent entries, and that wrongly deleted voters can re-enroll
• •BJP members have long alleged large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from Bangladesh fraudulently entered the rolls, and accuse rivals of undermining democracy by questioning legitimate electoral processes

Traders go to court, movement grows

Traders in the Connaught Place area petitioned the Supreme Court to prevent the protest, saying it would cause severe loss, and demanded compensation for losses suffered during a similar rally planned over the weekend that was foiled by a security crackdown.

The movement has emerged as one of the biggest political challenges faced by Modi and his BJP in his 12 years in power. Its weight is not abstract: a weeks-long sit-in earlier this year forced the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks.

Under the civic authority's order, the park remains closed for two days, while the Cockroach Janta Party has called on supporters to gather there Friday evening to wave the national flag.