Over 15 million Sri Lankans began voting on 17th August for the parliamentary elections in which former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse is hoping to become prime minister, eight months after losing the presidency.Rajapaksa, heading the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is pitted against incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from the United National Party (UNP). While the minority communities are expected to vote for Wickremesinghe, Rajapaksa will likely pull a large chunk of the majority Sinhala vote.