Vaddukoddai Electoral District

Vaddukoddai Electoral District was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Vaddukoddai in Jaffna District, Northern 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] Vaddukoddai electoral district was replaced by the Jaffna multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Vaddukoddai continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.

Members of Parliament

Key

  Independent   ACTC   ITAK   TULF

Election Member Party Term
1947 K. Kanagaratnam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 1947-1952
1952 V. Veerasingam Independent 1952-1956
1956 A. Amirthalingam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi 1956-1960
1960 (March) 1960-1960
1960 (July) 1960-1965
1965 1965-1970
1970 A. Thiagarajah All Ceylon Tamil Congress 1970-1977
1977 T. Thirunavukarasu Tamil United Liberation Front 1977-1989

Elections

1947 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:[2]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
K. Kanagaratnam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Elephant 11,721 61.24
V. Veerasingam Umbrella 2,234 11.67
S. H. Perinpanayagam Omnibus 1,716 8.97
V. Paramanayagam Hand 1,540 8.05
K. Chanmugam Pair of Scales 1,100 5.75
R. Ragupathy Lamp 827 4.32
Valid Votes 19,138 98.59
Rejected Votes 274 1.41
Total Polled 19,412 100.00
Registered Electors 37,334
Turnout 52.00

1952 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:[3]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
V. Veerasingam Independent Bicycle 5,687 24.47
K. Kanagaratnam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Hand 5,261 22.64
A. Amirthalingam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] Pair of Scales 4,500 19.36
Thillainathan Rudra Umbrella 3,033 13.05
C. Ragunathan Elephant 2,467 10.61
A. Vaidialingam Key 2,294 9.87
Valid Votes 23,242 97.91
Rejected Votes 495 2.09
Total Polled 23,737 100.00
Registered Electors 34,135
Turnout 69.54

1956 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:[5]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
A. Amirthalingam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 14,937 57.92
A. Vaidialingam Communist Party Star 10,850 42.08
Valid Votes 25,787 98.62
Rejected Votes 361 1.38
Total Polled 26,148 100.00
Registered Electors 35,927
Turnout 72.78

1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:[6]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
A. Amirthalingam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 11,524 53.52
Sanmugam Suntharasivam Lanka Sama Samaja Party Key 3,614 16.78
A. Vaidialingam Communist Party Star 3,180 14.77
M. P. Sangarapillai All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 2,955 13.72
C. S. Ratnasabapathy Sun 260 1.21
Valid Votes 21,533 98.68
Rejected Votes 289 1.32
Total Polled 21,822 100.00
Registered Electors 28,955
Turnout 75.37

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:[7]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
A. Amirthalingam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 13,454 72.10
A. Vaidialingam Communist Party Star 5,206 27.90
Valid Votes 18,660 98.60
Rejected Votes 265 1.40
Total Polled 18,925 100.00
Registered Electors 28,955
Turnout 65.36

1965 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:[8]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
A. Amirthalingam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 15,498 60.78
K. Subramaniam All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 4,359 17.09
Arunasalam Thampipillay Umbrella 4,082 16.01
I. R. Ariaratnam Communist Party Star 1,561 6.12
Valid Votes 25,500 98.88
Rejected Votes 290 1.12
Total Polled 25,790 100.00
Registered Electors 36,935
Turnout 69.83

1970 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:[9]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
A. Thiagarajah All Ceylon Tamil Congress Bicycle 14,359 51.29
A. Amirthalingam Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] House 13,634 48.71
Valid Votes 27,993 99.36
Rejected Votes 181 0.64
Total Polled 28,174 100.00
Registered Electors 35,812
Turnout 78.67

1977 Parliamentary General Election

Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:[10]

Candidate Party Symbol Votes %
T. Thirunavukarasu Tamil United Liberation Front Sun 23,384 70.18%
A. Thiagarajah Independent Umbrella 5,176 15.53
V. Rattai Eye 3,187 9.56
V. Rajasundaram Pair of Scales 837 2.51
N. Ratnasingam Elephant 480 1.44
V. Tharumalingam Independent Flower 150 0.45
M. Ambalavanar Ship 107 0.32
Valid Votes 33,321 99.60
Rejected Votes 135 0.40
Total Polled 33,456 100.00
Registered Electors 40,684
Turnout 82.23

T. Thirunavukarasu died on 1 August 1982. His replacement Neelan Tiruchelvam was sworn in on 8 March 1983.

Neelan Tiruchelvam and all other TULF MPs boycotted Parliament from the middle of 1983 for a number of reasons: they were under pressure from Sri Lankan Tamil militants not to stay in Parliament beyond their normal six-year term; the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka required them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state; and the Black July riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were murdered by Sinhalese mobs. After three months of absence, Tiruchelvam forfeited his seat in Parliament on 22 October 1983.[11]

References & footnotes

  1. ^ "The Electoral System". Parliament of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  2. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  3. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Also known as the Federal Party
  5. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
  6. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  7. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
  8. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  9. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  10. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  11. ^ Wickramasinghe, Wimal (18 January 2008). "Saga of crossovers, expulsions and resignations etc. Referendum for extention [sic] of Parliament". The Island, Sri Lanka.[dead link]