President Pratibha Patil congratulates Rajapaksa on re-election

New Delhi, Jan 27(ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Wednesday congratulated Sri Lanka's incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his re-election in Tuesday's Presidential elections.

Rajapakse achieved a landslide victory in Sri Lanka's sixth presidential election, defeating his main rival, former army chief Sarath Fonseka, with a solid 57.9 percent of the vote.

"Please accept my heartiest congratulations on your electoral victory. I am confident that under your continued leadership, Sri Lanka will attain greater heights and find lasting peace," President Patil said in her message.

"India and Sri Lanka share historically close and friendly relations. I wish to assure you of India's commitment to further deepen our relations with Sri Lanka. We look forward to working with you, towards this end for the mutual benefit of our two peoples," she added.

Rajapaksa won popularity after vanquishing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last May. He received 6.01 million votes, 1.84 million more than his main rival Fonseka.

He also secured more than 60 percent of the postal votes in the districts of Rathnapura, Moneragala, Puttalam, Galle, Hambantota, Trincomalee, Matara, Matale, Badulla, Digamadulla, Kalutara, Vavuniya, Polonnaruwa, Kegalle, Colombo, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Anuradhapura districts. (ANI)