Mudiyanse Tennakoon (born 16 June 1934 - 11 December 1991) was a Ceylonese politician, colloquially known as Podi Putha (youngest son). He received his primary education at Maho Central School and his secondary education at

S. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa , motto_translation = Be Thou Forever , denomination = Anglican , established = , type = Private , religious_affiliation = Christianity , affiliation = , founder ...

After completing his school education he worked on the Yarrow Tea Estate in Pupuressa. He was first elected to parliament at the 3rd parliamentary election in April 1956, representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the Nikaweratiya electorate, defeating the sitting

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), ...

member Kavisena Herath, 15,914 votes to 7,829, becoming, at the age of 22, the youngest parliamentarian in Ceylon. At the subsequent 4th parliamentary election and 5th parliamentary elections held in March and July 1960, he was re-elected by 5,028 and 3,597 vote margins respectively over rival Herath. Tennakoon was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Land, Irrigation and Power in the

First Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet The First Sirimavo Bandaranaike cabinet was the central government of Ceylon led by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරන ...

, and in May 1963 he was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

. In December 1963 Tennakoon was expelled from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and resigned his position in parliament in protest. At the 1964 parliamentary by-election, held on 1 April 1964, Tennakoon contested the seat as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, but lost to Herath, who secured 13,915 votes to Tennakoon's 10,675. He did however finish ahead of the SLFP candidate, R. B. Tennakoon, by 2,040 votes. At the 6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965, he ran as an independent, successfully regaining the seat of Nikaweratiya, by a 1,358 vote margin over Herath. Tennakoon retained the seat at the 7th parliamentary election, held on 27 May 1970, again as an independent, with 52.7% of the total vote, defeating the UNP candidate, H. B. Wanninayake by 6,272 votes. At the 8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977, he lost the seat, with H. B. Wanninayake securing 20,127 votes (58% of the total votes), C. P. Tennakoon, the SLFP candidate, securing 12,223 (35% of the total vote) to Tennakoon's 2,124 votes (6% of the total vote). His daughter, Soma Kumari, also served as a member of parliament, between 2001 and 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennakoon, M. 1934 births 1991 deaths Independent politicians in Sri Lanka Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians