Bandaragama Electoral District Explained

Bandaragama electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between March 1960 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Bandaragama in Kalutara District, Western Province. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced the proportional representation electoral system for electing members of Parliament. The existing 160 mainly single-member electoral districts were replaced with 22 multi-member electoral districts.[1] Bandaragama electoral district was replaced by the Kalutara multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections.

Members of Parliament

Key

ElectionMemberPartyTerm
1960 (March)D. C. W. KannangaraUnited National Party1960-1960
1960 (July)K. D. David PereraSri Lanka Freedom Party1960-1965
19651965-1967
1967 (by-election)1967-1969
1969 (by-election)George L. KotelawalaUnited National Party1969-1970
1970Herbert WickramasingheSri Lanka Freedom Party1970 - 1977
1977Senaraja SamaranayakeUnited National Party1977 - 1989

Elections

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960 for the district:[2]

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Elephant 10,154 33.93
Hand 7,031 23.50
R. A. K. Perera Cartwheel 6,027 20.14
D. W. Wijesooriya Key 5,113 17.09
Pushpakumara Premaratne Star 783 2.62
Austin D. Perera Umbrella 634 2.12
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes29,74299.40
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes181 0.60
align=left colspan=3Total Polled29,923 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors37,279
align=left colspan=4Turnout92.70

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960 for the district:[3]

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Hand 17,510 58.56
Elephant 11,844 39.61
R. A. Karunapala Perera Cartwheel 449 1.50
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes29,80399.67
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes98 0.33
align=left colspan=3Total Polled29,901 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors37,279
align=left colspan=4Turnout80.21

1965 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965 for the district:[4]

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Hand 20,897 53.17
Elephant 17,476 44.46
R. A. Karunapala Perera Cartwheel 504 1.28
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes38,87798.91
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes428 1.09
align=left colspan=3Total Polled39,305 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors45,512
align=left colspan=4Turnout86.36

1967 Parliamentary By-Election

Following the 1965 parliamentary elections two election petitions were lodged with the courts seeking the election results be declared void on the grounds that Perera or persons acting on his behalf published false statements in relation to the personal character of D. C. W. Kannangara. They were initially dismissed by the Election Judge on 5 June 1966, whereupon an appeal was lodged by the claimants to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court determined on 12 May 1967 that the Election Judge had misdirected himself in law and a fresh election for the seat of Bandaragama was called and held on 23 September 1967.[5]

Results of the 1967 parliamentary by-election held on 23 September 1967:[6]

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Hand 23,840 56.01
Elephant 18,372 43.16
E. A. Bandara Scales 211 0.5
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes42,42399.66
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes143 0.34
align=left colspan=3Total Polled42,566 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors45,512
align=left colspan=4Turnout93.53

1969 Parliamentary By-Election

Following the 1967 parliamentary by-election, a further petitions was lodged with the courts seeking the election results be declared void on the grounds that Perera should have been disqualified from running in the previous by-election, on the grounds that the Supreme Court ruling in 1967 disqualified him under the constitution. Following a hearing in June 1968 the Supreme Court decided the results of the 1967 by-election be declared void.[5]

1970 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970 for the district:[7]

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Hand 27,562 62.90
Elephant 15,593 35.59
P. R. Ranaraja Bell 521 1.19
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes43,67699.69
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes138 0.31
align=left colspan=3Total Polled43,814 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors51,062
align=left colspan=4Turnout85.81

1977 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977 for the district:[8]

align=left width="180"Candidate!align=left width="180"Party!align=left width="120"Symbol!align=left width="60"Votes!align=left width="60"%
Elephant 28,097 55.04
Hand 19,795 38.78
Vithanage Premachandra Perera Key 3,034 5.94
align=left colspan=3Valid Votes50,92699.76
align=left colspan=3Rejected Votes123 0.24
align=left colspan=3Total Polled51,049 100.00
align=left colspan=3Registered Electors57,420
align=left colspan=4Turnout88.90

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Electoral System. Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 19 March 1960 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 3 October 2017 .
  3. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 20 July 1960 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 1 June 2018 .
  4. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. 1 June 2018.
  5. Web site: Election Petition No. 5 of 1967 — Electoral District No. 27 (Bandaragama). Supreme Court of Ceylon. June 1968. 1 June 2018.
  6. Web site: Results of Parliamentary By Elections held between 1947 - 1988. Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. 1 June 2018.
  7. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 1 June 2018 .
  8. Web site: Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977 . Department of Elections, Sri Lanka . 1 June 2018 .