Hon.
P. Chandrasekaran
Member of Parliament
for Nuwara Eliya
In office
1994–2010
Succeeded bySanthanam Arulsamy
Member of the Central Provincial Council
In office
1993–1994
Personal details
Born(1957-04-17)17 April 1957
Talawakelle, Ceylon
Died1 January 2010(2010-01-01) (aged 52)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Political partyUp-Country People's Front
Other political
affiliations		United People's Freedom Alliance
ChildrenAnusha Chandrasekaran
OccupationTrade unionist

Periyasamy Chandrasekaran (Tamil: பெரியசாமி சந்திரசேகரன்; 17 April 1957 – 1 January 2010) was a Sri Lankan trade unionist, politician and government minister.

Early life and family

Chandrasekaran was born on 17 April 1957 in Talawakelle in central Ceylon.[1][2] He was educated at Sumana Demala Maha Vidyalayam, Talawakelle, St. Patrick's Vidyalayam, Talawakelle and Highlands College, Hatton.[2][3][4] Following the death of his father he gave up his education to support his family.[5]

Chandrasekaran was married Shanthini Devi.[4] They had two daughters.[4]

Career

Chandrasekaran became interested in politics at a young age and wrote articles in Tamil newspapers.[2] He joined the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), becoming its vice-president in 1977.[3][5] He was elected to the Talawakele Lindula Urban Council in 1982, Nuwara Eliya District Development Council in 1985 and Nuwara Eliya Divisional Council in 1987.[1][3] He left the CWC in 1989 and formed the Up-Country People's Front (UCPF).[3][5]

Chandrasekaran was one of the Democratic People's Liberation Front's (DPLF) candidates in Nuwara Eliya District at the 1989 parliamentary election but the DPLF failed to win any seats in Parliament.[6][7] He was arrested in 1990.[1] The draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act was used to arrest him 1993.[2] He was elected to the Central Provincial Council whilst in custody.[1][3]

Chandrasekaran was one of the UCPF's candidates for Nuwara Eliya District at the 1994 parliamentary election. He was elected and entered Parliament.[8] He was re-elected at the 2000, 2001 and 2004 parliamentary elections.[9][10][11]

After being elected to Parliament in 1994 he supported the new People's Alliance government.[1] He held several ministerial appointments thereafter: Deputy Minister of Trade and Commerce (1994); Deputy Minister of Estate Housing (1994–99); Project Minister of Estate Infrastructure (2001); Minister of Community Development; Deputy Minister of Irrigation and Water Management (2001–04); and Minister of Community Development and Social Inequity Eradication (2007–10).[2][3]

Chandrasekaran, who was at his home in Rajagiriya, failed to wake up on the morning of 1 January 2010.[12] He was taken to the private Nawaloka Hospital where he was pronounced dead on admission.[12][13]

Electoral history

Electoral history of P. Chandrasekaran
Election Constituency Party Alliance Votes Result
1989 parliamentary[7]Nuwara EliyaUCPFDPLF1,364Not elected
1993 provincialElected
1994 parliamentary[8]Nuwara EliyaUCPFInd23,453Elected
2000 parliamentary[9]Nuwara EliyaUCPFUNP54,681Elected
2001 parliamentary[10]Nuwara EliyaUCPFUNF121,421Elected
2004 parliamentary[11]Nuwara EliyaUCPF42,582Elected

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Directory of Members: P. Chandrasekaran". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Chandrasekaran funeral to take place Monday". TamilNet. 3 January 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Minister's funeral on Monday". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 3 January 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 "Parliament condoles Chandrasekeran: Chandrasekeran a great statesman". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 11 February 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "Chandrasekeran's funeral tomorrow". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 3 January 2010.
  6. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1989" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2009.
  7. 1 2 de Silva, W. P. P.; Ferdinando, T. C. L. 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka (PDF). Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 175. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1994" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2010.
  9. 1 2 "General Election 2000 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 August 2010.
  10. 1 2 "General Election 2001 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  11. 1 2 "General Election 2004 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  12. 1 2 de Silva, Jayantha (3 January 2010). "Autopsy reveals Minister Chandrasekaran died of alcoholic cirrhosis". Sunday Island (Sri Lanka).
  13. ↑ "UPF leader Chandrasekaran dies of heart attack". TamilNet. 1 January 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.