Agra: Several villages dominated by upper castes in Agra and Mathura on Sunday held a mahapanchayat and decided to oppose the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections if their demand for roll-back of the amended Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act is not accepted by the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.In Agra, around 3,000 people gathered at a temple in Baman village, instead of pre-decided venue of Thakur Baba Gulab Singh stadium in Saimra village, as police had blocked all access routes to the village. Talking to TOI, Rohit Chauhan of Saimra village said that their agitation will continue till the government changed its decision. Chauhan said that the BJP will get an appropriate reply in coming elections if the BJP-led NDA government remains adamant on its decision.A member of Kshatriya Mahasabha, Dinesh Kumar Sikarwar, who was conducting a general meeting at the district's Chatriya Bhawan, claimed that around 50 members of the outfit were detained by police in their office from 12 to 5 pm on Sunday. He said no reason was given for their detention, saying that the state government had “murdered democracy”.In Mathura, around 1,000 people gathered in Surir village, where they decided to continue with their “andolan” (agitation) and take their protest to every village in the state if their demand is not met. They also threatened to give a call for “Bharat Mahaband”.District president of Kshatriya Mahasabha (youth), Bhupendra Singh Rajput said, “We are protesting against the blatant misuse of the SC/ST Act against the upper castes”.Meanwhile, Devkinanadan, a katha vachak in Mathura, announced the formation a social organisation, Akhand Bharat mission, on Sunday. He said that all MPs will be served showcause notices by the organisation asking them why such a decision was taken by the Central government.These protests were held in the wake of the Modi's government passing an amendment in August, which was supported by all political parties, to effectively restore the SC/ST Act. The amendment follows a March 20 Supreme Court ruling which put in safeguards against the immediate arrest of a person against whom an offence under the Act is lodged.The Supreme Court has noted that the Act had been widely misused in the past three decades since it was enacted in 1989. The March 20 SC ruling enraged members of the SCs and STs, as well as political parties claiming to represent these sections of the population. Worried that there would be a backlash by SC/ST voters and that its allies would desert the NDA, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre brought in the amendment on August 9 nullifying the Supreme Court order,