The lead story of today's (21) 'Ravaya' publication states that in the first six days since handing over nominations, the common candidate secured ground in only urban and sub urban areas while the support for President Rajapaksa remained strong in the rural areas.

However, in the next three days, the 'Maithri wave' had spread across rural areas as well, breaking the dominance of Rajapaksa, the newspaper report further adds.