Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy ( ta, அப்பாத்துரை விநாயகமூர்த்தி; 19 December 1933 – 28 May 2017) was a
Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was leader and president of the
All Ceylon Tamil Congress.
Early life
Vinayagamoorthy was born on 19 December 1933.
Political career
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
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
.
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.
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
The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) is a series of Sri Lankan political parties and a former militant separatist group.
Militant separatists
The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K. Pathmanabha (Padmanaba), Douglas Devananda, S ...
,
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an Eelam Tamil organisation which campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka during 1972-1987 which later accepted the December 19th proposals. ...
and
Tamil United Liberation Front
The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප ...
formed the
Tamil National Alliance
The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lan ...
(TNA).
Vinayagamoorthy contested the
2001 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District. He was elected and re-entered Parliament.
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.
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.
He was not chosen to contest the
2015 parliamentary election.
Electoral history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinayagamoorthy, A.
1933 births
2017 deaths
All Ceylon Tamil Congress politicians
Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka
People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan Hindus
Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers
Sri Lankan Tamil politicians
Tamil National Alliance politicians