Chakrawarthi Pandukabhaya Dias Bandaranaike (''commonly known as Pandu Bandaranaike '') (born 31 August 1962) is 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 politician. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from the

Gampaha Electoral District Gampaha electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Gampaha in the Western province. The distri ...

. Born to the

Bandaranaike family The Bandaranaike family is a Sri Lankan Sinhalisation of Kerala Tamil family origin that is prominent in family politics. Along with many members who have been successful politician across generations, the family includes three Prime Ministers an ...

, his father was S. D. Bandaranayake, Member of Parliament from Gampaha from 1952 to 1989 and Dorin Dias Bandaranaike. He was educated at

S. Thomas' Preparatory School S. Thomas' Preparatory School (abbreviated as STPS) is a private, Anglican, multi-ethnic, primary and secondary day school for boys aged 5 to 16 years, located in Kollupitiya in the Colombo District of the Western Province of Sri Lanka. The scho ...

and at

D. S. Senanayake College D. S. Senanayake College ( டி.எஸ் சேனாநாயக்க கல்லூரி ''D. S. Senanayaka Vidyalaya'', also referred to as DS and DSSC) is a Single-sex education, boys' Primary school, primary and Secondary school, sec ...

. He worked as a reforestation officer in the State Timber Corporation, until he resigned in 1993 to contest the Provincial Council of the Western Province and was elected a

Member of Provincial Council In Sri Lanka a Member of Provincial Council (also known as Provincial Councilor), is the title given to an elected member of a provincial council. As of 2017, there are 455 members in nine provincial councils. Elections All positions in a provin ...

. In 1994, he was elected to Parliament from Gampaha. In 2009, he was appointed the Minister of Religious Affairs and later served as Deputy Minister of Indigenous Medicine. He married Mrkalandalage Jeewani Namal Gunawardana, daughter of

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

Terance Gunawardana, former

Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force The Commander of the Air Force is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Air Force. The current Commander of the Air Force is Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana. It is a position comparable to that of Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Air Fo ...

. They have one son Chamith Praween Dias Bandaranaike.

References

Parliament profile
1962 births Living people Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Alumni of D. S. Senanayake College {{WesternLK-politician-stub