Next Indian Elections

(27 Jan 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Mid of man on the street beside firecracker AUDIO: loud bangs as firecracker goes off
2. Wide of people near to firecrackers going off AUDIO: loud bangs as firecracker goes off
3. Mid of women holding up their arms
4. Various of man and woman dancing in the street
5. SOUNDBITE (Sinhalese) Lional, vox pop:
"Sri Lanka had six presidents but Mahinda Rajapaksa is the only President who stood up to the world community."
6. Pan right of newspaper stand
7. Close up of headline
8. SOUNDBITE (Sinhalese) Vikrama, vox pop:
++THERE IS A LOUD BANG DURING SOUNDBITE++
"The President''s victory will lead to a greater victory of our people."
9. Close of a gun held by a soldier on the street
10. Wide of army on the street
STORYLINE
Early returns on Wednesday showed Sri Lanka''s incumbent president ahead of his estranged former army chief in their bitter race to win the country''s first presidential election after its quarter-century war against Tamil Tiger rebels.
People were seen dancing in the streets of Colombo happy at the early poll results.
In a sign of the sky-high tensions between the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his former top general and challenger Sarath Fonseka, a military spokesman said troops surrounded the central Colombo hotel where Fonseka was staying.
About 400 people, including alleged army deserters, had gathered at the Cinnamon Grand Lake Hotel in support of Fonseka, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
Both Rajapaksa and Fonseka are considered heroes by the country''s Sinhalese majority for their leading role in defeating the Tigers in their campaign for an independent Tamil state.
No major violence was reported during Tuesday''s polling in an election that was seen as a first step in an attempt at recovery after decades of conflict.
Initial results on Wednesday showed Rajapaksa leading with 1,125,297 votes compared to 752,850 for Fonseka. But the race was still up for grabs, with (m) millions of votes not tallied.
There are some 14 million registered voters, and the overall turnout was around 70 percent.
The campaign was acrimonious from the start, with the general accusing his former boss of entrenched corruption and the president branding Fonseka a dictator-in-waiting.

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