In Nuwara Eliya, a district home to a significant population of Malayaga Tamils and comprising 12 Local Government bodies, the first meetings to appoint Chairmen and Vice Chairmen have been completed for five local authorities.
With the remaining seven local bodies scheduled to appoint their leadership next week, Members of Parliament representing the Malayaga Tamils from the ruling party have come under heavy criticism and trolling on social media — in a manner never seen before.
Ruling party figures have now formed alliances with the Sri Lanka Workers’ Congress (CWC) to take control of Local Councils in the Nuwara Eliya district.
The National People’s Power (NPP), with CWC’s support, has taken control of the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council as well as the Talawakelle–Lindula Urban Council. In the Nuwara Eliya, Kotagala, and Agarapathana Pradeshiya Sabhas, CWC members were elected as Chairmen with the support of NPP members.
The results of the Local Council elections have become a major headache for the traditional parties of the Nuwara Eliya district, the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) and the Sri Lankan Workers’ Congress.
The Nuwara Eliya district was once a stronghold of the Sri Lanka Workers’ Congress. The Tamil Progressive Alliance, an alliance of Palani Digambaram and Velusamy Radhakrishnan led by Mano Ganesan, has become an alternative political party on par with the Congress.
Now, the results of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government elections indicate that the influence of these two parties is gradually decreasing in the Nuwara Eliya district and that the National People’s Power has emerged as a strong party in the Malayagam in a short period of time.
The results of the recently concluded Local Government elections indicate that the NPP has captured the strongholds of the Congress and the TPA in the Nuwara Eliya district.
In the district, which has one Municipal Council, two Urban Councils, and nine Pradeshiya Sabhas, the Congress contested the 2018 elections alone, except in the wards of Walapane, Hanguranketha, and Kotmale, where the Sinhalese are the majority.
Although the Tamil Progressive Alliance contested the elections under the United National Party last time and this time under the Samagi Janabala Wegaya, it contested the Hanguranketha Pradeshiya Sabha alone under the sickle (mupths;) symbol this time.
In the 2018 Local Government elections, the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, which had won elections in five Councils, was the ruling party in 11 Local Government Councils except the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council, and members of the Sri Lanka Workers’ Congress were the chairmen in five Councils – Norwood, Kotagala, Hatton, Agarapatana, Nuwara Eliya and Maskeliya.
Last time, the Tamil Progressive Alliance was unable to form a Government even in the newly formed local bodies during their rule.
Norwood Pradeshiya Sabha
It makes you wonder whether the people of Norwood have dealt a death blow to the Sri Lanka Workers’ Congress and the Tamil Progressive Alliance.
In particular, both parties have faced a significant decline in votes compared to the last election in all 12 wards of the Norwood Pradeshiya Sabha.
Out of the 12 wards of Norwood Pradeshiya Sabhas, the National People’s Power has won in six wards – Wanaraja, Salangatha, Navaweligama (Nivelli), Norwood, Thenmadura and Lower Lechumi.
The CWC had won in six wards – Summerville, Puliyawatta, Upper Lechumi Bogawana, Loinon and Bogawantalawa.
The TPA candidates who contested under the SJB did not win in even one of the 12 wards.
In the last two Local Government elections, the TPA led by Mano Ganesan had lost in the Norwood Pradeshiya Sabha. Last time, the alliance had won only in the Bogawantalawai wards by a small margin. This time, it has lost in all 12 wards and has been relegated to third place.
At the previous election, one person from the TPA had gone to the Sabha directly and seven people through the list. This time, no member was elected to the Norwood PS directly. Five members have been given a chance from the list itself.
This time, the total votes received were 10,181 (24 percent), compared to 18,011 (37 percent) last time. The TPA lost 7,830 voters this time.
The CWC had also suffered a setback in the Norwood Pradeshiya Sabha. The Congress had won 11 out of 12 wards last time.
However, this time, the Congress won only six wards. It has lost five wards. Last time, it had received 24,192, that is, more than 50 percent of the votes, but this time, the CWC got only 31 percent of the votes.
Compared to the previous election, the Congress had lost 11,152 votes. In particular, although it was able to form the Government on its own last time, this time the Congress is in a position where it will not be able to form the Government without the help of its arch-rival, the coalition.
No Ward Congress or alliance has received more votes in this election than in the previous election. Both parties have faced a decline of half the votes in the wards they could win.
Out of the 12 wards, only in three wards – Bogawana, Loinon and Bogawantalawa, has the NPP been relegated to third place. In the other wards the NPP won and got second place. In the Norwood PS, the contest had been between the NPP and the CWC.
Kotagala Pradeshiya Sabha
The Kotagala Pradeshiya Sabha is one of the Pradeshiya Sabhas that is considered the stronghold of the Thondamans. Judging by the election results, it is clear that the NPP is firmly established in the Congress stronghold. The Kotagala Pradeshiya Sabha is one of the Councils that the CWC had captured in the past.
In this Pradeshiya Sabha, which consists of 10 wards – Great Western, Watagoda, and Coomwood, the CWC, which had secured 44 percent of the votes last time, won seven seats, and the TPA, which contested under the United National Party, which had secured 38 percent of the votes, won six seats.
This time, the TPA won four seats and the Congress won five seats.
The NPP has lost to the Congress by 1.26 (395 votes) percent of the votes. The NPP won five seats. The Congress lost 15 percent (6,707) of the votes compared to the last election. The TPA has also lost 10 percent, or 4,769 votes, this time.
Although there was only a small increase in votes in Bogahawatta, the Congress has experienced a huge decline in votes in the other nine wards of Kotagala PS as compared to the previous election. The TPA votes did not increase in any of the wards .
The National People’s Power received significant votes in all 10 wards and secured 27.97 percent of the votes.
Agarapathana Pradeshiya Sabha
The Agarapathana Pradeshiya Sabha, which consists of nine wards, was also won by the Sri Lanka Workers’ Congress last time.
The Congress won seven wards (45.38 percent of the votes) and the Tamil Progressive Alliance, which contested under the United National Party, won two wards (39.27 percent of the votes).
The NPP won four wards this time, while the CWC and TPA won three wards and two wards.
The NPP also won the Agarapathana, Thangamale and Hollbrook wards, which the Congress had won in 2018, and the Nagasena wards, which the Tamil Progressive Alliance had won.
Although the Congress had a small increase of 64 votes in the Rahanawatta wards, the Congress suffered a decline in the votes in the other eight wards compared to the previous election.
The Congress lost more than a thousand votes in Dayagama, Agarapathana and Elabadda wards in particular. The Congress lost 7,456 votes and the Tamil Progressive Alliance lost 5,824 votes.
The JVP, which had secured just 0.60 percent of the votes (206) in 2018, secured 28.53 percent of the votes (8163 votes) this time.
The NPP won Agarapathana by 31 votes. TPA, which was in second place last time, had been pushed to third place this time.
Nuwara Eliya Pradeshiya Sabha
The United National Party won in nine wards of 14 wards in Nuwara Eliya and the CWC won in three wards in the previous election. The SLPP won two wards. The JVP did not win any wards . The party was given only one seat on the list based on the votes it received last time.
The CWC had formed an alliance with the SLPP and captured the Nuwara Eliya Pradeshiya Sabha.
Five of the nine members elected in the UNP in 2018 were from the TPA. They were elected from the wards of Kandapola, Peedru, Nanuoya, Shanthipura, and Walltrin.
The CWC, which had captured three wards of Park, Parakumpura, and Kirimetiya in 2018, has advanced by capturing five wards this time. In particular, although the Congress lost Park wards, it also won Nanuoya, Walltrim and Kandapola wards , which TPA had won in 2018.
The Congress’ votes had increased significantly in the Walltrim and Kandapola wards. The TPA won in the Park and Ruwaneliya wards. This time, the Congress lost 3509 votes and TPA lost 4,423 votes.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which had secured just 2.38 percent of the votes (920) in the previous election, won seven wards this time by securing 9,301 votes (27.72 percent).
Maskeliya Pradeshiya Sabha
The Maskeliya Pradeshiya Sabha, which consists of 10 wards – Maussakele, Brownlow, Seethagangula and Murray, was contested by the CWC and the TPA in the previous local body elections. The CWC secured 12,597 (43.55%) votes and TPA secured 12,491 (43.19%) votes. The CWC won the election by 106 votes and captured the assembly and formed the Government.
The JVP secured 2.12 percent of the votes (612). However, this time the NPP secured 36.16 percent of the votes and won seven seats.
The CWC’s nominations for the Maskeliya Pradeshiya Sabha were rejected this time, which meant that the party members were unable to contest the elections.
The TPA secured fewer votes this time than in the previous elections – (8,587 votes.)
Although the TPA’s votes increased by 132 and 98 in Murray and Upcutt wards, the TPA lost 4,134 votes this time. The TPA, which had won six wards in the previous election, won three wards this time. The NPP won five of the six wards that the TPA had won this time. The NPP won seven wards this time.
Talawakelle – Lindula Municipal Council
This time, the Up-Country People’s Front (UCPF), a partner party of the Tamil Progressive Alliance, contested alone under the its own symbol and won the election by securing 1023 votes.
In the previous election, the CWC had secured 829 (24.96%) votes but had not won any wards . However, based on the votes it had received, the party had secured three seats.
The Tamil Progressive Alliance, which had contested under the United National Party, had also not won any wards . They had also been given two seats based on the votes they had received.
Here too, the number of votes of the CWC had dropped. The number of votes had decreased by half. Only in Lindula have the votes increased. The Up-Country People’s Front contested independently and received more votes than the NPP in all the other three wards except Lindula and Bandaranayake. The party received 1,023 votes.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which received 2.17 percent of the votes (72 votes) in the previous election, received 27.31 percent of the votes (866 votes) this time as a national people’s force.
Hatton-Dickoya Municipal Council
The Hatton-Dickoya Municipal Council, which has six wards, will have nine members directly elected and seven members through the list, for 16 members.
Six members were selected through the CWC list which won two wards – Wilfred Pura and Dickoya the previous time. The TPA, which had won seven wards, had eight members as a list member. The CWC had captured the Council by forming an alliance with the SLPP.
The CWC, which had secured 3,008 votes (39.39%) last time, has secured only 916 votes (13.02%) this time. The Congress had lost 2092 votes this time. Compared to the last time, the Congress has faced a severe decline in the number of votes in every ward. It has faced a significant decline in the number of votes in Dickoya, with 576 votes. There has been no increase in the number of votes in any wards .
Although the Tamil Progressive Alliance had increased the number of votes by 14 in the Dickoya wards , it faced a huge voter turnout in each of the other wards. In particular, it faced a huge voter turnout of 452 in the Dunbar wards . Although the TPA received 2,372 votes this time, it had received 3,231 votes last time.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which had received 172 votes (2.25%) of the votes, is leading this time as a national people’s force in the Hatton Dickoya Municipal Council by receiving 2606 (37.04%) votes.
Ambagamuwa Pradeshiya Sabha
The CWC, which had secured 8538 votes (21.05%) in the Ambagamuwa Pradeshiya Sabha the previous time, secured 3497 (10.59%) votes this time.
In Watawala, the CWC and TPA had secured 1036 and 968 votes. This time, although the number of TPA votes in Watawala had increased to 1,258, the votes of the Sri Lanka Workers’ Congress had decreased significantly to 438.
In the Rosella wards, although the CWC and TPA had registered 1742 and 1198 votes the previous time, this time both parties had suffered losses. This time, the CWC had secured 832 votes and the TPA 601 votes.
This time, the Congress lost 280 votes in Rampadeniya, 255 in Jambuthenna, 616 in Widulipura, 1,121 in Ruwanpura, and 1,028 in Shannon.
In the previous election, the Congress had won in Shannon, Ruwanpura, Rosella, and Watawala wards . This time, the Congress won only in the Shannon wards.
The Tamil Progressive Alliance did not win in any wards the previous time.
The JVP, which had secured 3.61 percent of the votes, secured 40.19 percent of the votes this time as the NPP and has captured eight seats.
