Periannan Pillai Devaraj (born 21 February 1929) is a Sri Lankan politician and former minister of state.
P. P. Devaraj | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for National List | |
| In office 1989–1994 | |
| Member of Parliament for Colombo District | |
| In office 1994–2000 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 February 1929 |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | Ceylon Workers' Congress |
| Other political affiliations | United People's Freedom Alliance |
| Ethnicity | Indian Tamil |
Early life
editDevaraj was born on 21 February 1929.[1] He was educated at St. Sylvester's College, Kandy.[2] He has a B.Sc. degree in economics.[2]
Career
editDevaraj was director of the Congress Labour Foundation, part of the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) and was an advisor to CWC leader Savumiamoorthy Thondaman.[2][3] He was later vice president of the CWC.[4]
Devaraj was appointed as one of the CWC/UNP alliance's National List MP in the Sri Lankan Parliament following the 1989 parliamentary election.[2] He was appointed Minister of State for Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs on 18 February 1989.[5][6] He contested the 1994 parliamentary election as one of the CWC/UNP alliance's candidates in Colombo District but failed to get elected. However, he re-entered Parliament following the assassination of Ossie Abeygunasekera and Weerasinghe Mallimarachchi on 24 October 1994.[7] Following the death of Thondaman in 1999 Devaraj tried unsuccessful to gain the leadership of the CWC from Thondaman's grandson Arumugam Thondaman.[8]
Devaraj was elected chairman of the Global Organization for People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) in 2007.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Directory of Past Members: Periannan Pillai Devaraj". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
- ^ a b c d de Silva, W. P. P.; Ferdinando, T. C. L. 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka (PDF). Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 296. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015.
- ^ "Devaraj elected Chairman of Global Level Indian Organisation". The Island (Sri Lanka). 27 December 2007.
- ^ Satyapalan, Franklin R. (22 August 2010). "Joint Committee of Indian Origin Organizations proposes". The Island (Sri Lanka).
- ^ de Silva, W. P. P.; Ferdinando, T. C. L. 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka (PDF). Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 211. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015.
- ^ de Silva, W. P. P.; Ferdinando, T. C. L. 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka (PDF). Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. p. 215. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2015.
- ^ "The question of the Tamil vote". The Island (Sri Lanka). 3 January 2010.
- ^ Kamalendran, Chris (9 July 2000). "Divided we stand". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
- ^ "P. P. Devaraj-Chairman of Global Level Indian Organisation". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). 30 December 2007.