Kelaniya Electoral District

Kelaniya electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Kelaniya in present-day 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.^[1] Kelaniya electoral district was replaced by the Gampaha multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Kelaniya continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.

Members of Parliament

Key

Independent SLFP UNP

	Member	Party	Term
1947	Junius Jayawardene	United National Party	1947-1952
1952	Junius Jayawardene	United National Party	1952-1956
1956	Richard Senanayake		1956-1960
1960	Junius Jayawardene	United National Party	1960-1960
1960	R. S. Perera	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1960-1965
1965			1965-1970
1970			1970-1977
1977	Cyril Mathew	United National Party	1977-1989

Results of the 1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947 for the district:^[2]

Candidate	Symbol	Votes	%
J. R. Jayewardene	Elephant	17,246	62.82%
B. Waidyasekera	Hand	10,206	37.18%
Valid Votes		27,452	100.00%
Rejected Votes		390
Total Polled		27,842
Registered Electors		47,638
Turnout		58.44%

Results of the 2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952 for the district:^[3]

Candidate	Symbol	Votes	%
J. R. Jayewardene	Hand	22,103	50.81%
Vimala Wijewardene	Elephant	15,868	36.48%
Vivienne Goonewardena	House	4,857	11.17%
D. R. Jayamanna	Star	673	1.55%
Valid Votes		43,501	100.00%
Rejected Votes		434
Total Polled		43,935
Registered Electors		58,170
Turnout		75.53%

Results of the 3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956 for the district:^[4]

Candidate	Symbol	Votes	%
R. G. Senanayake	Umbrella	37,023	71.55%
J. R. Jayewardene	Elephant	14,187	27.42%
M. P. P. W. Jayawardene	Lamp	377	0.73%
S. A. D. S. Gunawardena	Cart Wheel	158	0.31%
Valid Votes		57,145	100.00%
Rejected Votes		325
Total Polled		52,070
Registered Electors		67,542
Turnout		77.09%

Results of the 4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960 for the district:^[5]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
J. R. Jayewardene	United National Party	Elephant	10,827	37.54%
R. S. Perera	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	9,318	32.31%
D. C. P. Benaragama	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	Cart Wheel	6,454	22.38%
N. S. Perera		Key	1,769	6.13%
D. V. Algama		Pair of Scales	284	0.98%
H. H. P. Saratha Kumar		Lamp	187	0.65%
Valid Votes			28,839	100.00%
Rejected Votes			124
Total Polled			28,963
Registered Electors			35,470
Turnout			81.65%

Results of the 5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960 for the district:^[6]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
R. S. Perera	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	15,801	56.34%
A. W. A. Abeyagoonasekera	United National Party	Elephant	11,353	40.48%
C. Amarasinha		Cart Wheel	894	3.19%
Valid Votes			28,048	100.00%
Rejected Votes			109
Total Polled			28,157
Registered Electors			35,470
Turnout			79.38%

Results of the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965 for the district:^[7]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
R. S. Perera	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	20,147	51.78%
A. W. A. Abeyagoonasekera	United National Party	Elephant	18,268	46.95%
Saranapala Gunawadena	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	Cart Wheel	495	1.27%
Valid Votes			38,910	100.00%
Rejected Votes			191
Total Polled			39,101
Registered Electors			46,330
Turnout			84.40%

Results of the 7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970 for the district:^[8]

Candidate	Party	Symbol	Votes	%
R. S. Perera	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Hand	29,331	57.89%
A. W. A. Abeyagoonasekera	United National Party	Elephant	20,992	41.43%
M. D. H. de Silva		Bell	348	0.69%
Valid Votes			50,671	100.00%
Rejected Votes			178
Total Polled			50,849
Registered Electors			59,968
Turnout			84.79%

Results of the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977 for the district:^[9]

Candidate	Symbol	Votes	%
Cyril Mathew	Elephant	23,477	56.08%
Erin Senanayake	Hand	16,958	40.51%
L. Wewala Panditha	Star	1,076	2.57%
H. A. Seneviratna	Bell	162	0.39%
R. H. Jayasekera	Cart Wheel	85	0.20%
M. D. H. de Silva	Chair	45	0.11%
V. Stephen Perera	Omni Bus	29	0.07%
Tissa Gerard Luwis	Lamp	29	0.07%
Valid Votes		41,861*	100.00%
Rejected Votes		71
Total Polled		41,932
Registered Electors		49,470
Turnout		84.76%

^ "The Electoral System". Parliament of Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 2010-11-27.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-12.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-13.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-09.
^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17.