In the first major political test for President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's NPP, Sri Lanka on Thursday headed to elect a new parliament. Back in September, the ruling party failed to secure 50 percent of the vote in the presidential elections.

The JVP-NPP combine sweeps the Rajapaksa stronghold in the south, and the Tamil hardline areas in the north and reduces the traditional parties to a mere single-digit number in the parliament