In January 2018 Dissanyake stood down from his position as Provincial Education Minister whilst an investigation by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka was being undertaken.[7] The investigation related to an incident were Dissanyake allegedly demeaned a local school principal.[8] In April he was controversially re-instated back as the Education Minister by the Governor of Uva ProvinceMarappullige Jayasinghe.[9]
At the 16th parliamentary elections, held on 5 August 2020, Dassanayake ran again for a seat from the Badulla electorate, representing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). He polled 66,393 votes and was one of six SLPP members to be elected.[10][11]