| All Ceylon Tamil Congress | |
| Native Name: | Akila Ilankai Thamil Congress அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ் අකිල ඉලංකෙයි තමිල් කොංග්රස් |
| Lang1: | Tamil |
| Colorcode: | Yellow |
| Founder: | G. G. Ponnambalam |
| Leader1 Title: | Secretary |
| Leader1 Name: | Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam |
| Headquarters: | 15 Queen's Road, Colpetty, Colombo 3 |
| Ideology: | Tamil nationalism |
| National: | Tamil National People's Front |
| Seats1 Title: | Parliament |
| Seats2 Title: | Provincial Council |
| Seats3 Title: | Local Council |
| Symbol: | Bicycle |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
All Ceylon Tamil Congress (Tamil: அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.
The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament (50% for the Sinhalese, 50% for all other ethnic groups).[1] This was immediately rejected by the British Governor General Lord Soulbury as a "mockery of democracy".
Due to the cooperation of the ACTC with the United National Party a group led by S.J.V. Chelvanayakam broke away in 1949, forming the Federal Party (FP). The ACTC was largely discredited when their ally the UNP moved away from bilingual and bicommunal policies towards a pro-Sinhalese stance. Thus the FP emerged as the major Tamil party in 1956.
In 1972 the ACTC and the FP formed the Tamil United Front, which later evolved into the Tamil United Liberation Front in 1976.
Ahead of the 2001 elections, ACTC joined the LTTE-backed Tamil National Alliance (TNA). In the 2004 elections the TNA won 6.9% of the popular vote and 22 out of the 225 seats in parliament.
The ACTC left the TNA in 2010 and subsequently joined a new political alliance, the Tamil National People's Front.
Leaders of this party:
In the 1947 election, the first for the independent Ceylon, the ACTC won 4.37% of the popular vote and 7 out of 95 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district
| align=left width="100" | Electoral District! | align=left width="60" | Votes! | align=left width="60" | %! | align=left width="40" | Seats! | align=left width="60" | Turnout! | align=left width="190" | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavakachcheri | 11,813 | 85.51% | 1 | 49.34% | V. Kumarasamy | ||||||
| Jaffna | 14,324 | 73.28% | 1 | 46.26% | G. G. Ponnambalam | ||||||
| Kankesanthurai | 12,126 | 55.39% | 1 | 57.69% | S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | ||||||
| Kayts | 5,230 | 29.21% | 0 | 55.69% | |||||||
| Kopay | 9,619 | 58.90% | 1 | 50.33% | C. Vanniasingam | ||||||
| Point Pedro | 10,396 | 43.51% | 1 | 58.39% | T. Ramalingam | ||||||
| Trincomalee | 5,252 | 56.15% | 1 | 56.10% | S. Sivapalan | ||||||
| Vaddukoddai | 11,721 | 61.24% | 1 | 52.00% | K. Kanagaratnam | ||||||
| Vavuniya | 2,018 | 33.39% | 0 | 55.64% | |||||||
| Total | 82,499 | 4.37% | 7 | ||||||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source:[2] |
In the 1952 election the ACTC won 2.77% of the popular vote and 4 out of 95 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district
| align=left width="100" | Electoral District! | align=left width="60" | Votes! | align=left width="60" | %! | align=left width="40" | Seats! | align=left width="60" | Turnout! | align=left width="190" | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavakachcheri | 14,801 | 72.33% | 1 | 67.22% | V. Kumarasamy | ||||||
| Jaffna | 12,726 | 60.48% | 1 | 71.66% | G. G. Ponnambalam | ||||||
| Kayts | 9,517 | 43.44% | 1 | 73.36% | Alfred Thambiayah | ||||||
| Kopay | 9,200 | 43.88% | 0 | 64.57% | |||||||
| Point Pedro | 11,609 | 41.54% | 1 | 65.80% | T. Ramalingam | ||||||
| Vaddukoddai | 5,261 | 22.64% | 0 | 69.54% | |||||||
| Vavuniya | 1,398 | 15.52% | 0 | 69.59% | |||||||
| Total | 64,512 | 2.77% | 4 | ||||||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source:[3] |
In the 1956 election the ACTC fielded only one candidate, party leader G.G. Ponnambalam in Jaffna, who managed to win the seat with 8,914 votes.[4]
In the March 1960 election the ACTC won 1.32% of the popular vote and 1 out of 151 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district
| align=left width="100" | Electoral District! | align=left width="60" | Votes! | align=left width="60" | %! | align=left width="40" | Seats! | align=left width="60" | Turnout! | align=left width="190" | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavakachcheri | 6,930 | 32.52% | 0 | 83.20% | |||||||
| Jaffna | 5,312 | 30.56% | 0 | 71.91% | |||||||
| Kankesanthurai | 1,448 | 7.23% | 0 | 71.22% | |||||||
| Kopay | 4,936 | 23.35% | 0 | 77.13% | |||||||
| Nallur | 6,808 | 34.82% | 0 | 73.12% | |||||||
| Point Pedro | 2,521 | 17.91% | 0 | 73.33% | |||||||
| Udupiddy | 7,365 | 34.70% | 1 | 74.84% | M. Sivasithamparam | ||||||
| Vaddukoddai | 2,955 | 13.72% | 0 | 75.37% | |||||||
| Total | 38,275 | 1.32% | 1 | ||||||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source:[5] |
In the July 1960 election the ACTC won 1.66% of the popular vote and 1 out of 151 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.[6]
In the 1965 election the ACTC won 2.44% of the popular vote and 3 out of 151 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district
| align=left width="100" | Electoral District! | align=left width="60" | Votes! | align=left width="60" | %! | align=left width="40" | Seats! | align=left width="60" | Turnout! | align=left width="190" | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batticaloa | 8,107 | 12.14% | 0 | 150.59% | |||||||
| Chavakachcheri | 7,191 | 30.59% | 0 | 77.92% | |||||||
| Jaffna | 9,350 | 42.37% | 1 | 77.76% | G. G. Ponnambalam | ||||||
| Kalkudah | 3,354 | 19.38% | 0 | 72.70% | |||||||
| Kankesanthurai | 6,611 | 26.13% | 0 | 72.42% | |||||||
| Kayts | 5,816 | 30.02% | 0 | 61.49% | |||||||
| Kilinochchi | 4,076 | 30.76% | 0 | 71.33% | |||||||
| Kopay | 8,230 | 34.34% | 0 | 72.90% | |||||||
| Mutur | 327 | 0.58% | 0 | 150.92% | |||||||
| Nallur | 9,860 | 43.12% | 0 | 72.03% | |||||||
| Point Pedro | 6,614 | 40.43% | 0 | 71.62% | |||||||
| Udupiddy | 12,009 | 46.67% | 1 | 75.47% | M. Sivasithamparam | ||||||
| Uduvil | 5,577 | 23.29% | 0 | 72.80% | |||||||
| Vaddukoddai | 4,359 | 17.09% | 0 | 69.83% | |||||||
| Vavuniya | 7,265 | 40.33% | 1 | 73.45% | T. Sivasithamparam | ||||||
| Total | 98,746 | 2.44% | 3 | ||||||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source:[7] |
In the 1970 election the ACTC won 2.32% of the popular vote and 3 out of 151 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district
| align=left width="100" | Electoral District! | align=left width="60" | Votes! | align=left width="60" | %! | align=left width="40" | Seats! | align=left width="60" | Turnout! | align=left width="190" | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chavakachcheri | 12,921 | 45.51% | 0 | 86.11% | |||||||
| Jaffna | 7,222 | 29.05% | 0 | 79.89% | |||||||
| Kankesanthurai | 3,051 | 10.00% | 0 | 81.03% | |||||||
| Kayts | 1,667 | 6.80% | 0 | 76.88% | |||||||
| Kilinochchi | 9,049 | 50.19% | 1 | 76.03% | V. Anandasangaree | ||||||
| Kopay | 11,288 | 38.38% | 0 | 79.01% | |||||||
| Nallur | 13,116 | 46.78% | 1 | 78.69% | C. Arulampalam | ||||||
| Point Pedro | 8,902 | 46.85% | 0 | 79.52% | |||||||
| Udupiddy | 11,662 | 42.02% | 0 | 80.41% | |||||||
| Uduvil | 11,656 | 40.68% | 0 | 78.43% | |||||||
| Vaddukoddai | 14,359 | 51.29% | 1 | 78.67% | Dr. A. Thiagarajah | ||||||
| Vavuniya | 10,674 | 41.92% | 0 | 80.82% | |||||||
| Total | 115,567 | 2.32% | 3 | ||||||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source:[8] |
In the 2000 election the ACTC won 0.32% of the popular vote and 1 out of 225 seats in the Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by ACTC by electoral district
| align=left width="100" | Electoral District! | align=left width="60" | Votes! | align=left width="60" | %! | align=left width="40" | Seats! | align=left width="60" | Turnout! | align=left width="190" | ACTC MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batticaloa | 6,968 | 3.74% | 0 | 71.74% | |||||||
| Colombo | 5,238 | 0.52% | 0 | 76.05% | |||||||
| Jaffna | 10,648 | 8.94% | 1 | 21.33% | A. Vinayagamoorthy | ||||||
| Trincomalee | 3,748 | 2.82% | 0 | 68.53% | |||||||
| Vanni | 721 | 0.87% | 0 | 42.14% | |||||||
| Total | 27,323 | 0.32% | 1 | ||||||||
| align=left colspan=6 | Source:[9] |