V. Kumaraswamy

This article is about the Ceylon Tamil politician and Member of Parliament. For the Ceylon Tamil civil servant and diplomat, see V. Coomaraswamy.
Honourable
V. Kumaraswamy
MP
வே. குமாரசுவாமி
Member of the Ceylonese Parliament
for Chavakachcheri
In office
1947–1956
Succeeded by V. N. Navaratnam
Personal details
Born (1919-07-31)31 July 1919
Alma mater Ceylon Law College
Profession Lawyer
Ethnicity Ceylon Tamil

Velupillai Kumaraswamy (Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை குமாரசுவாமி; born 31 July 1919) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.

Early life and family

Kumaraswamy was born on 31 July 1919.[1] He was the son of Velupillai, a proctor from Chavakachcheri in northern Ceylon.[2] After school Kumaraswamy joined Ceylon Law College, qualifying as an advocate.

Kumaraswamy had a son (Vaheeswaran) and a daughter (Dushyanti).[2]

Career

Whilst still studying law, Kumaraswamy stood as the All Ceylon Tamil Congress's (ACTC) candidate in Chavakachcheri at the 1947 parliamentary election.[2] He won the election and entered Parliament.[3] Kumaraswamy became a Parliamentary Secretary after the ACTC joined the United National Party dominated government in 1948.[2][4]

Kumaraswamy was re-elected at the 1952 parliamentary election.[5] The ACTC left the UNP government in 1953 but Kumaraswamy chose to remain with the UNP.[6] Kumaraswamy left the UNP in 1956 over the party's support of the Sinhala Only Act.[6]

Kumaraswamy stood for re-election in the constituency at the 1956 parliamentary election as an independent candidate but was defeated by the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party) candidate V. N. Navaratnam.[2][7] He was the ACTC's candidate in the constituency at the March 1960 and 1970 parliamentary elections but on each occasion was defeated by Navaratnam.[8][9] He contested the 1977 parliamentary election as an independent candidate but was again defeated by Navaratnam.[10]

Kumaraswamy practised law in Colombo.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Directory of Past Members: Kumaraswamy, Velupillai". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 90.
  3. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  4. ↑ Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 14: Post-colonial realignment of political forces". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story.
  5. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  6. 1 2 Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 15: Turbulence in any language". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story.
  7. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  8. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  9. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  10. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
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