Sri Lanka crisis Live Updates: Sri Lanka president Rajapaksa emails resignation letter to parliamentary speaker

Rajapaksa has neither asked for asylum, nor has he been granted asylum.

Rajapaksa has reached Singapore after spending a day in Male, Maldives. He appointed PM Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President and was expected to send his resignation letter to the Speaker by July 13 night, but has failed to do so. Meanwhile, the government has imposed a curfew in the Colombo district from 12 noon on July 14 to 5 am on July 15 after protesters stormed the PM’s office on Wednesday, calling for his resignation. Parliament is expected to name a new full-time president next week, and a top ruling party source told Reuters Wickremesinghe was the party’s first choice.

Meanwhile, at least 45 people were hospitalised following a standoff between the police and protesters who had stormed Rajapaksa-ally Wickremesinghe’s office. Local media said a 26-year-old protester who was hospitalised after being tear-gassed died of breathing difficulties, reported Reuters.

ajya Sabha in July 2004 and soon after, was unanimously elected as the party’s chief whip in the Upper House, where his blistering speeches caught the attention of rival parties and his bosses in Mumbai. His entry to Rajya Sabha also meant that Raut served as the party’s face in New Delhi.

Raut is known to have played a major part in forging the 2019 alliance with the NCP-Congress, which many claimed was made possible because of his close association with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

For almost a month after the elections, as the political impasse played out, Raut managed to send out the message to other parties as well the public that the next CM of Maharashtra would be from the Sena. Addressing the media, he would repeatedly say, “Maharashtra me sarkar banegi, aur mukhya mantri Shiv Sena ka hi hoga (The government will be formed in Maharashtra and the Sena will head it).”

Many were amused at the predictability of the line that he spouted at his press conferences, but when Thackeray finally took over as CM in November 2019, Raut had the last laugh.

Over the next few months, Raut underlined his position as the Number 2 in the party after Thackeray – something that has been a sore poi