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Mudiyanse Tennakoon

Hon.
Mudiyanse Tennakoon
Member of the Ceylon Parliament
for Nikaweratiya
In office
1956–1963
Preceded byKavisena Herath
Succeeded byKavisena Herath
In office
1965–1977
Preceded byKavisena Herath
Succeeded byH. B. Wanninayake
Personal details
Born(1934-06-16)16 June 1934
Nikaweratiya, Sri Lanka
Died11 December 1991(1991-12-11) (aged 57)
Nikaweratiya, Sri Lanka
Political partySri Lanka Freedom Party
ChildrenSoma Kumari (daughter), Kumudu (daughter), Sunethra Kumari/Dammi (daughter)
Alma materS. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa
Occupationpolitician

Mudiyanse Tennakoon (16 June 1934 - 11 December 1991) was a Ceylonese politician,[1] colloquially known as Podi Putha (youngest son).[2]

He received his primary education at Maho Central School and his secondary education at S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa[3] After completing his school education he worked on the Yarrow Tea Estate in Pupuressa.[4]

He was first elected to parliament at the 3rd parliamentary election in April 1956, representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the Nikaweratiya electorate, defeating the sitting United National Party member Kavisena Herath, 15,914 votes to 7,829,[5] becoming, at the age of 22, the youngest parliamentarian in Ceylon.[6]

At the subsequent 4th parliamentary election and 5th parliamentary elections held in March and July 1960, he was re-elected by 5,028 and 3,597 vote margins respectively over rival Herath.[7][8] Tennakoon was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Land, Irrigation and Power in the First Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet,[9] and in May 1963 he was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.[4][10]

In December 1963 Tennakoon was expelled from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party[11] and resigned his position in parliament in protest. At the 1964 parliamentary by-election, held on 1 April 1964, Tennakoon contested the seat as an Independent, but lost to Herath, who secured 13,915 votes to Tennakoon's 10,675. He did however finish ahead of the SLFP candidate, R. B. Tennakoon, by 2,040 votes.[12]

At the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965, he ran as an independent, successfully regaining the seat of Nikaweratiya, by a 1,358 vote margin over Herath.[13]

Tennakoon retained the seat at the 7th parliamentary election, held on 27 May 1970, again as an independent, with 52.7% of the total vote, defeating the UNP candidate, H. B. Wanninayake by 6,272 votes.[14]

At the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977, he lost the seat, with H. B. Wanninayake securing 20,127 votes (58% of the total votes), C. P. Tennakoon, the SLFP candidate, securing 12,223 (35% of the total vote) to Tennakoon's 2,124 votes (6% of the total vote).[15]

His daughter, Soma Kumari, also served as a member of parliament, between 2001 and 2004.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Hon. Tennakoon, Mudiyanse, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  2. ^ Parliaments of Ceylon. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon. 1960. p. 119.
  3. ^ "Thomiana" (PDF). 17 (1). St Thomas College Old Boys Association. May 2013: 14. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ a b Abeynaike, H. B. W.; Ameratunga, H. P. (1970). Parliament of Ceylon, 1970. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 116.
  5. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 December 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Bandara, Helasigha (25 August 2008). "Naming and Shaming". Sri Lankan Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election March 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 December 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election July 1960" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 December 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Ceylon Year Book. Vol. 14–15. Ceylon Department of Census and Statistics. 1962. p. 7.
  10. ^ "List of Ministers and Deputy Ministers". Ministry of Finance. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015.
  11. ^ Jupp, James (1978). Sri Lanka - Third World Democracy. Frank Cass. p. 70. ISBN 9780714630939.
  12. ^ "Results of the Parliamentary By-Elections held between 1947-1988" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 December 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 December 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  14. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 December 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  15. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 December 2017.[permanent dead link‍]