Though there were reports of road and train blockades from some places, it was pretty much business as usual in Bihar Tuesday as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) strike to protest the dissolution of the assembly got underway.

Reports of disturbances came in from Bhojpur, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur districts where attempts were made to block train tracks. There were also instances of road blockades in some places.

Bihar police arrested nearly 50 protestors, including some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leaders, across the state.

However, it was all quiet in the capital here. Except for one or two pockets, life was unaffected with business establishments open. The only signs of the strike were the heavy deployment of police.

According to government officials, 13,500 personnel of Bihar Military Police (BMP) and the central forces have been deployed across the state to assist local police.

Chief Secretary K.A.H. Subramanian said all district magistrates and police officials had been ordered to impose orders prohibiting the assembly of four or more people for the next fortnight in view of the NDA's call for "aggressive agitation".

The call for the shutdown was given Monday after Home Minister Shivraj Patil announced the central government's decision to dissolve the state legislative assembly signalling fresh elections.