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UNF big guns lose their bases
By Chandani Kirinde
There was a reversal of fortune for many of the strongmen of the United National Party (UNP) in Friday's election with many losing their electorates and the party too losing many of the districts which it won convincingly less than two and a half years ago.

Of the Colombo district's 15 electorates, all of which the UNP won in 2001, the party managed to hang on to only six electorates. Two of the most humiliating defeats came in the electorates of Maharagama and Kesbewa where the UNP fell to third place behind the UPFA and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), which seems to have eroded the strong support that the UNP has enjoyed over the years in the Colombo district.

Former Cabinet Ministers Ravi Karunanayake, Karunasena Kodituwakku, Gamini Lokuge and Bandula Gunawardena were among those who lost in their electorates while in the Gampaha district Jayalath Jayawardena, Wijepala Mendis, Olitha Premathiratne, Edward Gunasekara, Atula Nimalasiri Jayasinghe, Sarath Chandra Rajakaruna, Pradeep Hapangama and Jayantha Ketagoda were among those who lost their electorates.

In the two districts, the seats that fell to the UPFA included Biyagama, Kelaniya, Kolonnawa, Kotte, Kaduwela, Avissawella, Ratmalana, Homagama and Moratuwa. In the Kalutara district, too, the seats of some top slot UNP members such as Mahinda Samarasinghe, Rajitha Senaratne, Lakshman Wijemanne and Sarath Ranawaka were lost.

It was a clean sweep for the UPFA in the Matara and Hambantota districts while the alliance conceded only one electorate to the UNP in the Galle district. Those who lost their electorates in the Galle district included Gayantha Karunatilleke, Jayantha Jayaweera, Ananda Abeywickrema, in the Matara district Sagala Ratnayake, and in the Hambantota district Ananda Kularatne, Sajith Premadasa, Dilip Wedaarachchi, and Siri Andrahennady lost their electorates.

Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa in the North Central province too fell to the UPFA with some prominent UNPers losing. They included Lal Gamage, P. Harrison, Chandrani Bandara and Sydney Jayaratne.

In the Uva province, although the UNP won the Badulla district, Lakshman Seneviratne, Samaraweera Weerawanni, and Ravindra Samaraweera were among those who lost their electorates. The Moneragala district was won entirely by the alliance. Some big UNP names lost in the Sabaragamuwa province as well. They included Mano Wijeratne, Rukman Senanayake, and Talata Atukorala.

In the North Western province, too, the UNP took a beating with electorates of Mawathagama, Katugampola, Anamaduwa, Wennappuwa, Yapahuwa, Wariapola and Dodangaslanda falling to the Alliance.

In the Eastern province, some of the big names that lost were M. L. M. Hisbullah and Joseph Pararajasingham. Former TULF leader V. Anandasangaree who contested as an independent candidate from the Wanni district lost his seat. Two other Tamil party leaders -- the PLOTE's Dharmalingam Sidtharthan and the ACTC's A.Vinyagamoorthy -- also failed to secure a seat.

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