Mahara electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between March 1960 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Mahara in 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. Mahara electoral district was replaced by the Gampaha multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections.
Members of Parliament Key
ElectionMemberPartyTerm 1960 (March)S. K. K. SuriarachchiSri Lanka Freedom Party 1960 1960 (July) 1960-1965 1965 1965-1970 1970 1970-1977 1977 Tudor Gunasekara United National Party 1977-1983 1983 parliamentary by-election Kamalawarana Jayakody United National Party 1983-1988
Elections 1960 (March) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%S. K. K. Suriarachchi Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 15,098 51.99Siridatta Jayakody United National Party Elephant 9,002 30.99G. P. Abeywickrema Cartwheel 1,971 6.79J. B. Siriwardena Key 1,561 5.38Olive Amarasekera Umbrella 386 1.33J. A. K. Perera Star 297 1.02R. A. Rupasinghe Lamp 186 0.64D. R. Jayamanne Scales 147 0.51D. C. Jayakody Book 85 0.29Valid Votes28,82399.25Rejected Votes 218 0.75Total Polled 29,041 100.00Registered Electors 35,120 Turnout 82.69
1960 (July) Parliamentary General Election Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%S. K. K. Suriarachchi Hand 17,791 65.07Oscar de Levera Elephant 8,991 32.88Dayapani Seneviratne Cartwheel 416 1.52Valid Votes27,19899.47Rejected Votes 145 0.53Total Polled 27,143 100.00Registered Electors 35,120 Turnout 77.86
1965 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%S. K. K. Suriarachchi Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 20,573 55.49D. S. Gunasekera United National Party Elephant 15,665 42.25Reginald Pieries Chair 633 1.71Valid Votes36,87199.45Rejected Votes 204 0.55Total Polled 37,075 100.00Registered Electors 43,874 Turnout 84.50
1970 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%S. K. K. Suriarachchi Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 27,679 61.88Tudor Gunasekara United National Party Elephant 16,883 37.75Valid Votes44,56299.63Rejected Votes 167 0.37Total Polled 44,729 100.00Registered Electors 51,464 Turnout 86.91
1977 Parliamentary General Election Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977 for the district:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Tudor Gunasekara United National Party Elephant 25,016 51.42S. K. K. Suriarachchi Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 22,384 46.01J. A. K. Perera Star 935 1.92K. P. D. Karunawansa Chair 101 0.21Ananda Maddumage Lamp 98 0.20Valid Votes48,53499.75Rejected Votes 121 0.25Total Polled 48,655 100.00Registered Electors 54,264 Turnout 89.66
1983 Parliamentary By-Election In early 1983 Gunasekara resigned as the member for Mahara, with nominations being called to fill the vacancy, closing 22 April. The results of the 1983 parliamentary by-election held on 18 May for the electorate:
CandidatePartySymbolVotes%Kamalawarana Jayakody United National Party Elephant 24,944 47.99Vijaya Kumaranatunga Sri Lanka Freedom Party Hand 24,899 47.90S. K. K. Suriarachchi Independent Scales 1,837 3.53R. P. G. Rajapakse Butterfly 76 0.15Loku Pulukkuttige Premadasa Chair 48 0.09Valid Votes51,80499.66Rejected Votes 177 0.34Total Polled 51,981 100.00Registered Electors 65,660 Turnout 79.17
References