Sri Lanka votes in tight presidential poll

Sri Lankans have started voting in a tightly fought presidential election in what is expected to be a fierce political battle for current President Mahinda Rajapaksa after a onetime ally suddenly defected from the ruling party to run against him.

The November defection by former Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena turned the race, which Rajapaksa had been widely expected to easily win, into a referendum on the president and the enormous power he wields over the island nation.  

Rajapaksa's power grew immensely after he crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, ending the country's 25-year civil war.

ALJAZEERA