Kankesanthurai Electoral District was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Kankesanthurai 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. Kankesanthurai electoral district was replaced by the Jaffna multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Kankesanthurai continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.
Members of Parliament Key
ElectionMemberPartyTerm 1947 S. J. V. Chelvanayakam All Ceylon Tamil Congress 1947–1952 1952 S. Natesan United National Party 1952–1956 1956S. J. V. ChelvanayakamIllankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi1956-1977 1960 (March) 1960 (July) 1965 1970 1975 by Tamil United Front 1977 A. Amirthalingam 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:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S. J. V. ChelvanayakamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressKey12,12655.39% Ponnambalam NagalingamLanka Sama Samaja PartyHand5,16023.57% S. NatesanUnited National PartyPair of Scales4,60521.04%Valid Votes21,891100.00%Rejected Votes534Total Polled22,425Registered Electors38,871Turnout57.69%
1952 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S. NatesanUnited National PartyKey15,33757.00% S. J. V. ChelvanayakamIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiAlso known as the Federal PartyBicycle11,57143.00%Valid Votes26,908100.00%Rejected Votes355Total Polled27,263Registered Electors38,439Turnout70.93%
1956 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S. J. V. ChelvanayakamIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse14,85554.30% S. NatesanIndependentUmbrella8,18829.39% V. PonnampalamCommunist PartyStar4,31315.77%Valid Votes27,356100.00%Rejected Votes317Total Polled27,673Registered Electors40,964Turnout67.55%
1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S. J. V. ChelvanayakamIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse13,54567.61% V. KaralasinghamLanka Sama Samaja PartyKey5,04225.17% R. N. SivapirakasamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle1,4487.23%Valid Votes20,035100.00%Rejected Votes244Total Polled20,279Registered Electors28,473Turnout71.22%
1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S. J. V. ChelvanayakamIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse15,66888.63% R. N. SivapirakasamAll Ceylon Tamil CongressPair of Spectacles2,00911.37%Valid Votes17,677100.00%Rejected Votes131Total Polled17,808Registered Electors28,473Turnout62.54%
1965 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S. J. V. ChelvanayakamIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse14,73558.24% S. Sri BhaskaranAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle6,61126.13% V. KaralasinghamLanka Sama Samaja Party (R)Lamp2,2578.92% K. VaikunthavasanCommunist Party (Moscow)Star9583.79% V. SeenivasagamCommunist Party (Peking)Umbrella7412.93%Valid Votes25,302100.00%Rejected Votes269Total Polled25,571Registered Electors35,309Turnout72.42%
1970 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S. J. V. ChelvanayakamIllankai Tamil Arasu KachchiHouse13,52044.29% V. PonnampalamCommunist PartyStar8,16426.75% C. SuntharalingamIndependentCockerel5,78818.96% T. ThirunavukarasuAll Ceylon Tamil CongressBicycle3,05110.00%Valid Votes30,523100.00%Rejected Votes140Total Polled30,663Registered Electors37,804Turnout81.11%
1975 by-election
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% S.J.V. ChelvanayakamTamil United FrontHouse25,92772.55% V. PonnampalamCommunist PartyStar9,45726.46% M. AmbalavanarShip1850.52%Valid Votes35,569100.00%Rejected Votes168Total Polled35,737Registered Electors41,227Turnout86.68%
1977 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes% A. AmirthalingamTamil United Liberation FrontSun31,15585.41% Sivapiragasam SritharanIndependentPair of Scales5,32214.59%Valid Votes36,477100.00%Rejected Votes218Total Polled36,695Registered Electors43,907Turnout83.57%
A. Amirthalingam 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, Amirthalingam forfeited his seat in Parliament on 22 October 1983.
References & footnotes