The Association for the Propagation of Vedic Astrology said Sunday that former Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe was the rising star according to his horoscope. His manifesto may have also helped.

The seers had also pored over the election pledges of candidates and found only Wickremesinghe had promised an "Astrological Council" to boost the fortunes of the practitioners.

"Yes, we will have a better time if the opposition leader wins the election," the association's leader Ananda Seneviratne told AFP. "But our calculations show he is winning."

The soothsayers, who had remained unusually quiet during the campaign, made the surprise announcement after a private opinion poll put Wickremesinghe six percentage points ahead in approval ratings.