April 23, 2026 11:42 am (IST)

Make this your homepage

South Asia / Southeast Asia / China

'Will never forget’: Nation remembers Pahalgam victims as leaders vow strong fight against terror | 'India will never bow to any form of terror': PM Modi on Pahalgam terror attack anniversary | TCS Nashik case: No interim bail for Danish Shaikh in religious sentiments case | US woman alleges sexual assault at Karnataka homestay; owner among 2 arrested | ‘PM Modi is a terrorist’: Mallikarjun Kharge sparks row; BJP hits back | ‘What kind of order is this?’: Mamata slams ECI’s bike curbs in poll-bound Bengal, calls it ‘mischief’ | ‘90% of women can’t do politics without entering male politicians’ rooms’: Pappu Yadav sparks row; BJP targets Congress | Tim Cook to step down as Apple CEO; John Ternus named successor | 15 killed, 20 injured as bus plunges into gorge in J&K’s Udhampur | Oil jumps over 5% as Strait of Hormuz closure fuels supply fears

Ex-Defence Chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins Sri Lanka presidential poll

IBNS | @indiablooms | Nov 17, 2019, at 03:28 pm

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s former Defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Sunday won the Presidential election, according to the preliminary results from the country’s Election Commission.

The former defence chief has won with over 51 per cent of the vote.

à¶…à¶¯ à¶¸à· à¶¯à¶šà·’à¶±à·Šà¶±à¶§ à¶´à·à¶¸à·’à¶«à·’ à¶”à¶¶ à·ƒà·à¶¸à¶œà·š à¶‹à¶¯à·Š‍à¶ºà·à¶œà¶º à·ƒà·„ à¶†à¶¯à¶»à¶º, à¶…à¶´à¶§ à¶‘à¶šà·Šà·€ à¶¸à·š à¶»à¶§ à¶œà·œà¶©à¶±à·à¶Ÿà·’à¶º à·„à·à¶šà·’ à¶¶à·€à¶§ à·ƒà·”à¶· à¶½à¶šà·”à¶«à¶šà·’..! pic.twitter.com/vye7XsoeN6
— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) November 17, 2019

Though the final official results are yet to be announced, reports said that Rajapaksa's main rival Sajith Premadasa, son of former president Ranasinghe Premadasa, has conceded his defeat.

He has stepped down from this housing minister post.

Taking to social networking site, Twitter, Mr Premadasa wrote, "It is my privilege to honour the people's decision and congratulate Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his election. I am grateful to our citizens who voted for me."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated Sri Lanka’s former Defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his win in the presidential elections of the country.

"Congratulations Gotabaya Rajapaksa on your victory in the Presidential elections. I look forward to working closely with you for deepening the close and fraternal ties between our two countries and citizens, and for peace, prosperity as well as security in our region," PM Modi tweeted, in response to which the new President elect thanked him.

I thank Prime Minister @narendramodi and the people of India for your warm wishes. Our two nations are bound by history and common beliefs and I look forward to strengthening our friendship and meeting you in the near future https://t.co/WZkLWc3MFS
— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) November 17, 2019

#SriLankaPolls #LankaResults #Rajapaksa

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.