Kelaniya electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Kelaniya in present-day Gampaha 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. Kelaniya electoral district was replaced by the Gampaha multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Kelaniya continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.
Members of Parliament Key
ElectionMemberPartyTerm 1947Junius JayawardeneUnited National Party 1947-1952 1952 1952-1956 1956 Richard Senanayake 1956-1960 1960 Junius Jayawardene United National Party 1960-1960 1960R. S. PereraSri Lanka Freedom Party 1960-1965 1965 1965-1970 1970 1970-1977 1977 Cyril Mathew United National Party 1977-1989
Elections
1947 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%J. R. Jayewardene Elephant17,24662.82%B. Waidyasekera Hand10,20637.18%Valid Votes27,452100.00%Rejected Votes390Total Polled27,842Registered Electors47,638Turnout58.44%
1952 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%J. R. Jayewardene Hand22,10350.81%Vimala Wijewardene Elephant15,86836.48%Vivienne Goonewardena House4,85711.17%D. R. Jayamanna Star6731.55%Valid Votes43,501100.00%Rejected Votes434Total Polled43,935Registered Electors58,170Turnout75.53%
1956 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%R. G. Senanayake Umbrella37,02371.55%J. R. Jayewardene Elephant14,18727.42%M. P. P. W. Jayawardene Lamp3770.73%S. A. D. S. Gunawardena Cart Wheel1580.31%Valid Votes57,145100.00%Rejected Votes325Total Polled52,070Registered Electors67,542Turnout77.09%
1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%J. R. JayewardeneUnited National PartyElephant10,82737.54%R. S. PereraSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand9,31832.31%D. C. P. BenaragamaMahajana Eksath PeramunaCart Wheel6,45422.38%N. S. Perera Key1,7696.13%D. V. Algama Pair of Scales2840.98%H. H. P. Saratha Kumar Lamp1870.65%Valid Votes28,839100.00%Rejected Votes124Total Polled28,963Registered Electors35,470Turnout81.65%
1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%R. S. PereraSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand15,80156.34%A. W. A. AbeyagoonasekeraUnited National PartyElephant11,35340.48%C. Amarasinha Cart Wheel8943.19%Valid Votes28,048100.00%Rejected Votes109Total Polled28,157Registered Electors35,470Turnout79.38%
1965 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%R. S. PereraSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand20,14751.78%A. W. A. AbeyagoonasekeraUnited National PartyElephant18,26846.95%Saranapala GunawadenaMahajana Eksath Peramuna Cart Wheel4951.27%Valid Votes38,910100.00%Rejected Votes191Total Polled39,101Registered Electors46,330Turnout84.40%
1970 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%R. S. PereraSri Lanka Freedom PartyHand29,33157.89%A. W. A. AbeyagoonasekeraUnited National PartyElephant20,99241.43%M. D. H. de Silva Bell3480.69%Valid Votes50,671100.00%Rejected Votes178Total Polled50,849Registered Electors59,968Turnout84.79%
1977 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Cyril Mathew Elephant23,47756.08%Erin Senanayake Hand16,95840.51%L. Wewala Panditha Star1,0762.57%H. A. Seneviratna Bell1620.39%R. H. Jayasekera Cart Wheel850.20%M. D. H. de Silva Chair450.11%V. Stephen Perera Omni Bus290.07%Tissa Gerard Luwis Lamp290.07%Valid Votes41,861*100.00%Rejected Votes71Total Polled41,932Registered Electors49,470Turnout84.76%
References