Anuruddha Ratwatte, Sri Lankan politician and cabinet minister, died he was 73.

General Anuruddha Leuke Ratwatte, known as "Anuruddha Ratwatte", was a Sri Lankan politician and Cabinet Minister  died he was 73..^[1] He had also served as the Acting Diyawadana Nilame (Chief lay Custodian) of the Temple of the Tooth Kandy.

(14 July 1938 – 24 November 2011)

Early life

Ratwatte was educated at Trinity College, Kandy. He was a cousin of the Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
He is the son of Harris Leuke Ratwatte who was former Diyawadana Nilame of Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy, He was a member of the State Council in 1936 to 1947 for Kegalle and United National Party Member of Parliament for Mawanella 1947 to 1952. His eldest son Lohan Ratwatte is the Member of Parliament representing the Kandy District and second son Mahendra Ratwatte is the current Mayor of Kandy.

Politics

Anuruddha Ratwatte had been a Councillor in the Kandy Municipal Council representing the United National Party In the late 1960s later in 1980s Leader of the Opposition in the Kandy Municipal Council representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Ratwatte entered national politics in the late 1960s as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Chief Organizer for the Sengkadagala Electorate. In the 1970 and 1977 General Elections, he contested Sengkadagala Electorate from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party but was defeated.^[2][3] He entered the Sri Lanka Parliament in February 1989 as a nominated Member on the National List, In 1994, he was elected to parliament from the Kandy District representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was appointed by Chandrika Kumaratunga, his niece as Cabinet Minister for Power and Energy and Deputy Defense Minister. While Kumaratunga held the portfolio of Minister of Defense.

Military Career

Ratwatte had served in the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. On the successful completion of the Operation Riviresa which resulted in the recapture of the Jaffna peninsula, which Ratwatte oversaw as deputy defense minister; he was promoted to the rank of General by President Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1995.^[4] He fell out of favor when Operation Jayasikurui failed to achieve its primary objective of gaining a land route to the Jaffna peninsula and was called off by President Kumaratunga in 1999.


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