Bangalore: The bitterly fought Assembly byelection from Chamundeshwari will go down in electoral history for a variety of reasons, including the number of orders and notices issued by the Election Commission.

During the 25 days beginning with the issue of the election notification on November 7 to polling day on December 4, the commission placed several restrictions on political parties, the last one being the directive to non-local political party leaders and activists to leave the constituency after campaigning came to a close at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The Election Commission and its observers earned respect for checkmating attempts by the political parties to entice voters with gifts and ensuring peaceful polling.

Although over ten candidates were in the fray, the electoral battle turned out to be a straight fight between Congress candidate Siddaramaiah and Janata Dal (Secular) Shivabasappa, who was supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Credit should go to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for bridging the wide gap between Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivabasappa in a short time.

Midway through the election campaign, the Janata Dal (United), which fielded the former legislator A.S. Guruswamy, faced a split in its legislature party further weakening its candidate's chances.

Political observers have described the byelection as a battle between the Congress and the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who is the national president of the JD(S).

A victory for the JD(S)-BJP candidate help the coalition government emerge stronger, while a Congress win is likely to lead to the party stepping up its campaign for the ouster of the government.

The byelection saw caste passions being whipped up by all the political parties in the electoral fray.

Depending on which community was dominant in a particular pocket of the constituency, leaders from that community were given the responsibility of campaigning in the area.

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