'Baseless': India denies reports of political influence in Sri Lanka's presidential poll

On Wednesday, the Indian High Commission, in a tweet, categorically denied the "baseless and purely speculative" media reports that New Delhi was making efforts (at the political level) to influence leaders in Sri Lanka, regarding the Presidential elections in which Ranil Wickremesinghe, the six-time PM, won.

While denying the false media reports, India also reiterated that it "supports the realization of aspirations of the people of Sri Lanka in accordance with democratic means and values, established institutions as well as constitutional provisions, and doesn't interfere in internal affairs and democratic processes of another country".

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe had been among the top three candidates for the Presidential election in which 225 members of the House were eligible to vote, and participate in the secret ballot. The other two candidates were SLPP parliamentarian Dullas Alahaperuma and National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Sri Lanka's main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday withdrew his candidature from the presidential race, and took to Twitter to say that his party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and its alliance and opposition partners will support Alahapperuma, an MP of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), who is in the fray for the upcoming presidential elections.

He said that he was going forward with this decision for the "greater good" of the Lankans.

"For the greater good of my country that I love and the people I cherish I hereby withdraw my candidacy for the position of President. Samagi Jana Balawegaya and our alliance and our opposition partners will work hard towards making Dullas Alahaperuma victorious," he tweeted.

Earlier, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had offered his resignation after fleeing the country to Singapore. The president first flew to the Maldives after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in the capital Colombo.

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