Bandaragama electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between March 1960 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Bandaragama in Kalutara 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. Bandaragama electoral district was replaced by the Kalutara multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections.

Members of Parliament Key

ElectionMemberPartyTerm 1960 (March) D. C. W. Kannangara United National Party 1960-1960 1960 (July)K. D. David PereraSri Lanka Freedom Party 1960-1965 1965 1965-1967 1967 (by-election) 1967-1969 1969 (by-election) George L. Kotelawala United National Party 1969-1970 1970 Herbert Wickramasinghe Sri Lanka Freedom Party 1970 - 1977 1977 Senaraja Samaranayake United National Party 1977 - 1989

Elections 1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960 for the district:

CandidatePartySymbolVotes% D. C. W. Kannangara United National Party Elephant 10,154 33.93 K. D. David Perera Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 7,031 23.50 R. A. K. Perera Cartwheel 6,027 20.14 D. W. Wijesooriya Key 5,113 17.09 Pushpakumara Premaratne Star 783 2.62 Austin D. Perera Umbrella 634 2.12Valid Votes29,74299.40Rejected Votes 181 0.60Total Polled 29,923 100.00Registered Electors 37,279 Turnout 92.70

1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960 for the district:

CandidatePartySymbolVotes% K. D. David Perera Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 17,510 58.56 D. C. W. Kannangara United National Party Elephant 11,844 39.61 R. A. Karunapala Perera Cartwheel 449 1.50Valid Votes29,80399.67Rejected Votes 98 0.33Total Polled 29,901 100.00Registered Electors 37,279 Turnout 80.21

1965 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965 for the district:

CandidatePartySymbolVotes% K. D. David Perera Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 20,897 53.17 D. C. W. Kannangara United National Party Elephant 17,476 44.46 R. A. Karunapala Perera Cartwheel 504 1.28Valid Votes38,87798.91Rejected Votes 428 1.09Total Polled 39,305 100.00Registered Electors 45,512 Turnout 86.36

1967 Parliamentary By-Election Following the 1965 parliamentary elections two election petitions were lodged with the courts seeking the election results be declared void on the grounds that Perera or persons acting on his behalf published false statements in relation to the personal character of D. C. W. Kannangara. They were initially dismissed by the Election Judge on 5 June 1966, whereupon an appeal was lodged by the claimants to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court determined on 12 May 1967 that the Election Judge had misdirected himself in law and a fresh election for the seat of Bandaragama was called and held on 23 September 1967.

Results of the 1967 parliamentary by-election held on 23 September 1967:

CandidatePartySymbolVotes% K. D. David Perera Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 23,840 56.01 George Kotalawala United National Party Elephant 18,372 43.16 E. A. Bandara Scales 211 0.5Valid Votes42,42399.66Rejected Votes 143 0.34Total Polled 42,566 100.00Registered Electors 45,512 Turnout 93.53

1969 Parliamentary By-Election Following the 1967 parliamentary by-election, a further petitions was lodged with the courts seeking the election results be declared void on the grounds that Perera should have been disqualified from running in the previous by-election, on the grounds that the Supreme Court ruling in 1967 disqualified him under the constitution. Following a hearing in June 1968 the Supreme Court decided the results of the 1967 by-election be declared void.

1970 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970 for the district:

CandidatePartySymbolVotes% Herbert Wickramasinghe Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 27,562 62.90 D. C. W. Kannangara United National Party Elephant 15,593 35.59 P. R. Ranaraja Bell 521 1.19Valid Votes43,67699.69Rejected Votes 138 0.31Total Polled 43,814 100.00Registered Electors 51,062 Turnout 85.81

1977 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977 for the district:

CandidatePartySymbolVotes% Senaraja Samaranayake United National Party Elephant 28,097 55.04 Herbert Wickremasihnghe Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 19,795 38.78 Vithanage Premachandra Perera Key 3,034 5.94Valid Votes50,92699.76Rejected Votes 123 0.24Total Polled 51,049 100.00Registered Electors 57,420 Turnout 88.90

References