Patna/Arwal/Jehanabad/Darbhanga (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections were "rigged" to favour the BJP and claimed that the NDA government at the Centre wants to repeat it in the Bihar polls due later this year.

Addressing INDIA bloc workers during a protest march to the Election Commission's office in Patna against the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Gandhi said, "Maharashtra assembly elections were rigged to favour the BJP and the NDA. They want to repeat it in Bihar, which we will not allow."

"The Election Commission must protect the Constitution... it is working on instructions from the BJP. These Election Commissioners have been nominated by the BJP. The special intensive revision of the electoral rolls is an attempt to steal an election. We will not allow the EC to steal the (voting) rights of the electorate, especially the youth," he said.

The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, who arrived in the state capital in the morning, was accompanied by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI general secretary D Raja and senior leaders of other opposition parties.

Gandhi, along with the other leaders, were atop a vehicle during the protest march which started at Income Tax Golambar in Patna.

Rail and road traffic were disrupted in parts of Bihar as workers of opposition parties hit the streets to enforce a statewide bandh called by the Mahagathbandhan.

A large number of Opposition party leaders blocked the movement of road traffic on Patna's Mahatma Gandhi Setu by burning tyres.

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Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.

The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.

Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.

The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.

Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.

The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.