Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy (Tamil: அப்பாத்துரை விநாயகமூர்த்தி; 19 December 1933 – 28 May 2017)[1] was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was leader and president of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress.

A. Vinayagamoorthy
அ. விநாயகமூர்த்தி
Member of Parliament
for Jaffna District
In office
8 April 2010 – 26 June 2015
In office
10 October 2000 – 7 February 2004
Personal details
Born(1933-12-19)19 December 1933
Died28 May 2017(2017-05-28) (aged 83)
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partyTamil National Alliance
ProfessionLawyer
EthnicitySri Lankan Tamil

Early life

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Vinayagamoorthy was born on 19 December 1933.[2]

Political career

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Vinayagamoorthy was a long-standing member of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC). He was one of the ACTC's candidates in Jaffna District at the 1989 parliamentary election but the ACTC failed to win any seats in Parliament.[3][4] He took on the leadership of the party following the assassination of Kumar Ponnambalam in January 2000. He was the ACTC candidate for Jaffna District at the 2000 parliamentary election. He was elected and entered Parliament.[5] He relinquished leadership of the ACTC to Ponnambalam's son Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam when he entered politics in 2001.

On 20 October 2001 the ACTC, Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization and Tamil United Liberation Front formed the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).[6][7] Vinayagamoorthy contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District. He was elected and re-entered Parliament.[8] He was one of the TNA's candidates in Vanni District at the 2004 parliamentary election but failed to get elected after coming sixth amongst the TNA candidates.[9]

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam left the TNA in 2010, taking the ACTC with him but Vinayagamoorthy stayed with the TNA. He was one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District at the 2010 parliamentary election. He was elected and re-entered Parliament.[10] He was not chosen to contest the 2015 parliamentary election.[11]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of A. Vinayagamoorthy
Election Constituency Party Votes Result
1989 parliamentary[4] Jaffna District ACTC 986 Not elected
2000 parliamentary[5] Jaffna District ACTC 3,825 Elected
2001 parliamentary[8] Jaffna District TNA 19,472 Elected
2004 parliamentary[9] Vanni District TNA 13,586 Not elected
2010 parliamentary[10] Jaffna District TNA 15,311 Elected

References

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  1. ^ "Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy no more". omlanka.net. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Directory of Members: A. Vinayagamoorthy". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  3. ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1989" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  4. ^ a b de Silva, W. P. P.; Ferdinando, T. C. L. 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka (PDF). Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 183. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b "General Election 2000 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
  6. ^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. "Tamil National Alliance enters critical third phase - 1". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 4 April 2010.
  7. ^ "Tamil parties sign MOU". TamilNet. 20 October 2001.
  8. ^ a b "General Election 2001 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2010.
  9. ^ a b "General Election 2004 Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Parliamentary General Election - 2010 Jaffna Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2010.
  11. ^ "TNA's selection of candidates and its internal conflict". Tamil Diplomat. 9 July 2015.