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| Saturday, 8 December 2001 |
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by P. Rajaratnam With the election results coming in, there was rejoicing and a sense of relief among the masses in the hillcountry. They look for a better and prosperous tomorrow. The biggest turn out of voters was recorded in the plantation sector, Arumugam Thondaman, Muthu Sivalingam and P. Chandrasekaran were returned with resounding majorities. The other two UNP members are Navin Dissanayake 74,894 votes, and a new comer from Hatton K. K. Piyadasa 54,206 votes. The People's Alliance's two candidates C. B. Ratnayake of Walapone and another new comer from Kotmale Kumar Dassanayake polled 49,673 and 35,504 votes respectively. One of the most notable losers from the UNP was former Health Minister Renuka Herath. The Peoples Alliance's, three candidates, who were strongly supported by Suppiah Sathasivam, the Adviser to the Ministry of Plantation Infrastructure, V. Puthirasigamany, K. Kanagaraja and Suppiah Rajaratnam were defeated. Compared with the 1994 General Elections, where ten plantation Tamils won in the present elections there was a drastic down trend. Muthu Sivalingam, one of the senior leaders of the CWC who led the CWC election campaign said the verdict given by the plantation workers was unshakable and they have displayed their strength and loyalty with one voice to prove that the plantations in the hillcountry is the fortress of their late leader Soumyamoorthy Thondaman, who had toiled for their emancipation. He added that whoever joined the CWC fold will be victorious. According to the Deputy Inspector General Nuwara Eliya Region Felix Alles, there was a skirmish in the Ragalla area and the situation has been brought under control. In the rest of the areas, there was no untoward incidents reported and the estate workers were observing religious ceremonies in their estates. |
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