Palani Digambaran

Honourable
Palani Digambaran
MP MPC
பழனி திகாம்பரம்
Minister of Hill Country, New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development
Assumed office
4 September 2015
President Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
Minister of Plantation Infrastructure Development
In office
12 January 2015 – 17 August 2015
Deputy Minister of National Languages and Social Integration
In office
21 August 2014 – 10 December 2014
Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament
for Nuwara Eliya District
Assumed office
2010
Member of the Central Provincial Council for Nuwara Eliya District
In office
2004–2010
Succeeded by G. M. M. Piyasiri
Personal details
Born (1967-01-10) 10 January 1967
Political party National Union of Workers
Other political
affiliations		 Tamil Progressive Alliance
Religion Hindu
Ethnicity Indian Tamil

S. Udeiappan Palani Alagan Digambaran (Tamil: எஸ். உடையப்பன் பழனி அழகன் திகாம்பரம்; born 10 January 1967) is a Sri Lankan politician and government minister. He is the leader of the National Union of Workers (NUW), a member of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) and United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG).

Early life

Digambaran was born on 10 January 1967.[1]

Career

Digambaran runs a textile business and is leader of the National Union of Workers (NUW).[2][3]

Digambaran contested the 2004 provincial council election as one of the Up-Country People's Front's candidates in Nuwara Eliya District and was elected to the Central Provincial Council.[4] He was re-elected at the 2009 provincial council election, this times as a United National Front (UNF) candidate.[5]

Digambaran contested the 2010 parliamentary election as one of the UNF candidates in Nuwara Eliya District and was elected to Parliament.[6][7] The NUW left the UNF alliance on 22 April 2010 after a dispute over National List seats.[8] Digambaran continued to be part of the opposition as an independent MP.[9] In August 2013 Digambaran and two others were charged with attempting to acquire 12 perches of land and a vehicle by force from their lawful owner but the case was dropped after the defendants offered to compensate the victim for the vehicle.[10]

Digambaran was appointed Deputy Minister of National Languages and Social Integration on 21 August 2014.[11][12] He resigned from the UPFA government on 10 December 2014 to support common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the presidential election.[13][14] After the election newly elected President Sirisena rewarded Digambaran by appointing him Minister of Plantation Infrastructure Development.[15][16]

Digambaran was one of the United National Front for Good Governance's candidates in Nuwara Eliya District at the 2015 parliamentary election. He was elected and re-entered Parliament.[17][18][19] He was sworn in as Minister of Hill Country, New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development on 4 September 2015.[20][21][22]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Palani Digambaran
Election Constituency Party Votes Result
2004 provincial[4] Nuwara Eliya District UCPF 18,387 Elected
2009 provincial[5] Nuwara Eliya District UNF 45,229 Elected
2010 parliamentary[6] Nuwara Eliya District UNF 39,490 Elected
2015 parliamentary[23] Nuwara Eliya District UNFGG 105,528 Elected

References

  1. ↑ "Directory of Members: Palany Thigambaram". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. ↑ "New faces in Parliament" (PDF). The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 18 April 2010.
  3. ↑ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (23 April 2010). "Decline of Tamil representation outside the North and East". dbsjeyaraj.com.
  4. 1 2 "Results of Provincial Council Elections 2004" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  5. 1 2 "Preferences Nuwara Eliya" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  6. 1 2 "Parliamentary General Election - 2010 Nuwara Eliya Preferences" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  7. ↑ "General Elections 2010 - Preferential Votes" (PDF). The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 11 April 2010.
  8. ↑ Perera, Yohan (23 April 2010). "Workers Union leaves UNF". Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  9. ↑ Indrajith, Saman (23 April 2010). "NUW to back govt.". Island, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  10. ↑ Weerasooriya, Ananda (9 August 2013). "Bail approved for Digambaram". Ceylon Today.
  11. ↑ Somawardana, Melissa (21 August 2014). "Prabha Ganesan and Digambaran sworn in as Deputy Ministers". News First.
  12. ↑ "Two more Deputy Ministers take oaths before President in Si Lanka". Colombo Page. 21 August 2014.
  13. ↑ Ferdinando, Shamindra (11 December 2014). "Two deputy ministers quit; CWC suffers split". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  14. ↑ Srinivasan, Meera (11 December 2014). "2 more MPs leave Rajapaksa government". The Hindu.
  15. ↑ "New Cabinet ministers sworn in". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 12 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "New Cabinet takes oaths". The Nation (Sri Lanka). 12 January 2015.
  17. ↑ "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Government Notifications PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ACT, No. 1 OF 1981" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1928/03. 19 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "Ranil tops with over 500,000 votes in Colombo". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 19 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "Preferential Votes". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 19 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "PART I : SECTION (I) — GENERAL Appointments & c., by the President" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. 1932/07. 14 September 2015.
  21. ↑ "New Cabinet". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 4 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "The new Cabinet". Ceylon Today. 4 September 2015.
  23. ↑ Jayakody, Pradeep (28 August 2015). "The Comparison of Preferential Votes in 2015 & 2010". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
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