Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Dharmadasa Banda (7 February 1938 – 23 October 2010), known commonly as R. M. Dharmadasa Banda, was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n teacher, lawyer and politician, a member of the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

and a former cabinet minister. He was a Basnayaka Nilame (Lay Custodian) of the Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya.

Early life

Born in the village of Medagam Pattuwa in

Bibile Bibile (also spelled:Bibila) is a town located in Monaragala District, Uva Province of Sri Lanka. Bibile's land is important to Sri Lankan agriculture. It was well known for oranges An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the fa ...

, his father was the R. M. Kiribanda was the

Village Headman A village head, village headman or village chief is the community leader of a village or a small town. Usage Brunei In Brunei, village head is called or in the Malay language. It is an administrative post which leads the community of a v ...

. He was educated at the Medagama School in Bibile,

Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte Ananda Sastralaya (Sinhalese language, sinhala: ආනන්ද ශාස්ත්‍රාලය) is a public boys school located in Kotte, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1890 as Kotte Buddhist English Mixed School. In 1952 a part of the school land ...

and

Zahira College, Colombo Zahira College (commonly known as Zahira) ( si, සහිරා විදුහල, ta, சாஹிரா கல்லுரி) is an Islamic school at Colombo in Maradana, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1892 as Al Madrasathul Zahira by notab ...

. Following his studies he returned to Bibile, gained an appointment as an English teacher and was elected Chairman of the Medagama Village Council.

Political career

Dharmadasa Banda entered active politics in the late 1964 as the chief

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

organiser for the Bibile electorate, after his brother R. M. Gunasekera, the member for Bibile in 1960, was assassinated in 1964. He contested the seat of Bibile at the 1965 parliamentary election, as the

candidate, and was elected to parliament, defeating Ronnie de Mel. He was defeated at the 1970 general election. Entering

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and qualified as an attorney-at-law. He contested and won in the 1977 general election and was appointed Deputy Minister of Textile and Handloom Industries by Prime Minister

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

. Re-elected in the 1989 general election, he was appointed Minister of Agricultural Development and Research in the cabinet of President R. Premadasa. During his tenure he introduced the farmers’ pension scheme. He lost his seat in the 1994 general election and was re-elected in the 2000 general election, but lost the 2001 general election. Re-elected in the 2004 general election from the

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக� ...

, he served as Cabinet Minister for Additional Plantation Crops from 2007 to 2010. His son Padma Udayashantha Gunasekara, served as a member of the parliament.

References

Former Minister Dharmadasa Banda passes away

External links

Humble Politician
1938 births 2010 deaths Sri Lankan Buddhists Sinhalese teachers Sinhalese lawyers Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka Deputy ministers of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians United People's Freedom Alliance politicians Alumni of Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte Alumni of Zahira College, Colombo {{UvaLK-politician-stub