Sonia Gandhi congratulates new Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena

NEW DELHI: Congress President Sonia Gandhi today congratulated Maithripala Sirisena for his "historic" victory in the Sri Lankan presidential polls even as her party spokesperson ridiculed outgoing President Mahinda Rajapaksa and sought to equate him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Applauding the commitment of the Sri Lankan people to democracy, Gandhi in a message extended her good wishes to the President elect for his future endeavors towards their welfare and unity.

Underlining the historic and friendly ties that Sri Lanka and India share, she hoped that the bilateral relations will continue to strengthen further under the leadership of Sirisena.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha used the occasion to slam Rajapaksa, saying his defeat shows that "majoritarian politics has a limited shelf life" and "Finally, the majority rejects it".

In a series of tweets, he said "President Rajapaksa was intoxicated with arrogance. Elections were preponed to 2015 (=8), and held on "8"th Jan for superstitious reasons.

"Mr Modi has an absolute majority for 5 years. And yet within 7 months, the NDA government looks tired, weak, insecure, effete, ill-equipped."

In the biggest political shake-up in Sri Lanka in over a decade, opposition candidate Sirisena trounced Rajapaksa in the tightest-ever presidential race, ending his 10-year-rule.