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 (1929-02-21) 21 February 1929 (age 95)
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partyCeylon Workers' Congress
Other political
affiliations
United People's Freedom Alliance
EthnicityIndian Tamil

Early life

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Devaraj 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

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Devaraj 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

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  1. ^ "Directory of Past Members: Periannan Pillai Devaraj". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Devaraj elected Chairman of Global Level Indian Organisation". The Island (Sri Lanka). 27 December 2007.
  4. ^ Satyapalan, Franklin R. (22 August 2010). "Joint Committee of Indian Origin Organizations proposes". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "The question of the Tamil vote". The Island (Sri Lanka). 3 January 2010.
  8. ^ Kamalendran, Chris (9 July 2000). "Divided we stand". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  9. ^ "P. P. Devaraj-Chairman of Global Level Indian Organisation". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). 30 December 2007.