evidence: Elections Commission Chairman R.L.A.M. Ratnayake said that Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the JVP-NPP combine and Sajith Premadasa have emerged as the first two in the race. While Anura was leading the race with over 42 per cent votes, Sajith emerged second with 35 per cent votes. However, with no candidate securing 50 percent plus one vote, the second preference votes are now being counted. The three-cornered race and the fragmented electorate had made the fight tough for both Sajith and Anura. Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe emerged a distant third while, the scion of the Rajapaksa clan, Namal Rajapaksa secured less than four per cent votes. The Tamil common candidate Pakiyaselvam Ariyanenthiran emerged second after Sajith in the Tamil-dominated northern Sri Lanka. In Jaffna, Ariyanentiran leads the race, while districts like Trincomallee in the East had voted for Anura. The southern districts begin from Colombo. [...] Anura’s emergence and his likely ascent to the Sri Lankan executive presidency are meteoric as he secured a mere 3.2 per cent votes in 2019 election. Gotabaya Rajapaksa then won with 69 lakh votes, only to be brought down from power by the people in 2022.