In Sri Lanka, polling is underway to elect a new President. The polling which began at 7 AM will continue till 5 PM. A total of 35 candidates are in the fray. Around 1.6 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise and over 12 thousand polling stations have been set up all over the country. Counting of votes will be held after polling is over and results are expected by tomorrow. A candidate needs to poll over 50 per cent of valid votes to be declared winner, else the second preference votes have to be counted. The main contest is between former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajpaksa and Minister Sajith Premadasa. Both candidates have campaigned mainly on the plank of national security and good governance. This is the first time in the country’s history that neither of sitting President or Prime minister is contesting the elections.
