Tamara Kumari Ilangaratne ( Aludeniya; 15 March 1925 – 5 October 2000) was a Ceylonese politician. She was the third female member to be elected to

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). Ilangaratne was elected as the independent representative for

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

in parliamentary by-election held on 18 June 1949, where she polled 10,062 votes (50.75% of the total vote) succeeding her husband

T. B. Ilangaratne Navaratne Rajakaruna Wasala Mudiyanselage Tikiri Bandara Ilangaratne (27 February 1913 – 21 May 1992), popularly as T. B. Ilangaratne, was a Sri Lankan politician, author, dramatist, and theater actor. He was a Member of Parliament for K ...

who had been unseated in an election petition and striped of his civic rights. At the 2nd parliamentary elections in 1952, she failed to retain her seat, losing to the

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), ...

(UNP) candidate,

E. L. Senanayake Deshamanya Edward Lionel Senanayake (known commonly as E.L Senanayake) (8 August 1920 – 29 January 2000) was a Sri Lankan politician belonging to the United National Party. He was the 12th Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Speaker of the ...

who received 11,349 votes (58.45%) as opposed to Ilangaratne's 7,644 votes (39.37%). In 1965 Ilangaratne contested the seat of Galagedara at the 6th parliamentary elections, representing the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

. She was narrowly beaten by the UNP candidate, W. M. G. T. Banda, by 574 votes. She was however successful at the subsequent parliamentary elections in 1970 defeating W. M. G. T. Banda, by 2,560 votes (securing 55% of the total vote). At the 1977 parliamentary elections she lost the seat to W. M. G. T. Banda, by 5,873 votes. On September 4, 1944, she married

, a government clerk, who entered politics as a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and became senior government minister. Ilangaratne died on 5 October 2000, at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilangaratne, Tamara Kumari 1925 births 2000 deaths Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians