Kankesanthurai Electoral District was anelectoral district ofSri Lanka betweenAugust 1947 andFebruary 1989. The district was named after the town ofKankesanthurai inJaffna District,Northern Province. The1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced theproportional representation electoral system forelectingmembers ofParliament. The existing 160 mainlysingle-member electoral districts were replaced with 22multi-memberelectoral districts.[1] Kankesanthurai electoral district was replaced by theJaffna multi-member electoral district at the1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Kankesanthurai continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district.
Key
Results of the1st parliamentary election held between 23 August 1947 and 20 September 1947:[2]
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | Key | 12,126 | 55.39% | |
| Ponnambalam Nagalingam | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | Hand | 5,160 | 23.57% | |
| S. Natesan | United National Party | Pair of Scales | 4,605 | 21.04% | |
| Valid Votes | 21,891 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 534 | ||||
| Total Polled | 22,425 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 38,871 | ||||
| Turnout | 57.69% | ||||
Results of the2nd parliamentary election held between 24 May 1952 and 30 May 1952:[3]
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. Natesan | United National Party | Key | 15,337 | 57.00% | |
| S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] | Bicycle | 11,571 | 43.00% | |
| Valid Votes | 26,908 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 355 | ||||
| Total Polled | 27,263 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 38,439 | ||||
| Turnout | 70.93% | ||||
Results of the3rd parliamentary election held between 5 April 1956 and 10 April 1956:[5]
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] | House | 14,855 | 54.30% | |
| S. Natesan | Independent | Umbrella | 8,188 | 29.39% | |
| V. Ponnampalam | Communist Party | Star | 4,313 | 15.77% | |
| Valid Votes | 27,356 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 317 | ||||
| Total Polled | 27,673 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 40,964 | ||||
| Turnout | 67.55% | ||||
Results of the4th parliamentary election held on 19 March 1960:[6]
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] | House | 13,545 | 67.61% | |
| V. Karalasingham | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | Key | 5,042 | 25.17% | |
| R. N. Sivapirakasam | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | Bicycle | 1,448 | 7.23% | |
| Valid Votes | 20,035 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 244 | ||||
| Total Polled | 20,279 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 28,473 | ||||
| Turnout | 71.22% | ||||
Results of the5th parliamentary election held on 20 July 1960:[7]
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] | House | 15,668 | 88.63% | |
| R. N. Sivapirakasam | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | Pair of Spectacles | 2,009 | 11.37% | |
| Valid Votes | 17,677 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 131 | ||||
| Total Polled | 17,808 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 28,473 | ||||
| Turnout | 62.54% | ||||
Results of the6th parliamentary election held on 22 March 1965:[8]
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] | House | 14,735 | 58.24% | |
| S. Sri Bhaskaran | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | Bicycle | 6,611 | 26.13% | |
| V. Karalasingham | Lanka Sama Samaja Party (R) | Lamp | 2,257 | 8.92% | |
| K. Vaikunthavasan | Communist Party (Moscow) | Star | 958 | 3.79% | |
| V. Seenivasagam | Communist Party (Peking) | Umbrella | 741 | 2.93% | |
| Valid Votes | 25,302 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 269 | ||||
| Total Polled | 25,571 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 35,309 | ||||
| Turnout | 72.42% | ||||
Results of the7th parliamentary election held on 27 May 1970:[9]
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. J. V. Chelvanayakam | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi[4] | House | 13,520 | 44.29% | |
| V. Ponnampalam | Communist Party | Star | 8,164 | 26.75% | |
| C. Suntharalingam | Independent | Cockerel | 5,788 | 18.96% | |
| T. Thirunavukarasu | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | Bicycle | 3,051 | 10.00% | |
| Valid Votes | 30,523 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 140 | ||||
| Total Polled | 30,663 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 37,804 | ||||
| Turnout | 81.11% | ||||
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.J.V. Chelvanayakam | Tamil United Front | House | 25,927 | 72.55% | |
| V. Ponnampalam | Communist Party | Star | 9,457 | 26.46% | |
| M. Ambalavanar | Ship | 185 | 0.52% | ||
| Valid Votes | 35,569 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 168 | ||||
| Total Polled | 35,737 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 41,227 | ||||
| Turnout | 86.68% | ||||
Results of the8th parliamentary election held on 21 July 1977:[11]
| Candidate | Party | Symbol | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Amirthalingam | Tamil United Liberation Front | Sun | 31,155 | 85.41% | |
| Sivapiragasam Sritharan | Independent | Pair of Scales | 5,322 | 14.59% | |
| Valid Votes | 36,477 | 100.00% | |||
| Rejected Votes | 218 | ||||
| Total Polled | 36,695 | ||||
| Registered Electors | 43,907 | ||||
| Turnout | 83.57% | ||||
A. Amirthalingam and all other TULF MPs boycotted Parliament from the middle of 1983 for a number of reasons: they were under pressure fromSri Lankan Tamil militants not to stay in Parliament beyond their normal six-year term; the Sixth Amendment to theConstitution of Sri Lanka required them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for aseparate state; and theBlack July riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were murdered bySinhalese mobs. After three months of absence, Amirthalingam forfeited his seat in Parliament on 22 October 1983.[12]