COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s national budget for 2015, which President Mahinda Rajapaksa presented here on Friday, is aimed at winning over the long neglected masses ahead of a snap Presidential election expected to be held in early January. With the not-too-easy task of getting more than 50 per cent of the votes polled to come back to power, Rajapaksa has turned away from mega projects of little immediate value to the masses to announce a series of giveaways to various socially disadvantaged sections. To give a fillip to local paddy growers, he has increased the price of paddy from LKR 34 to 40 per kg and has promised free seeds. To boost the local dairy sector, the guaranteed price for local fresh milk is to be increased to LKR 60 per litre.