1. Rajitha Senaratne is currently a member of parliament representing Kalutara district.
29 Facts About Rajitha Senaratne
1. 2.
Rajitha Senaratne was educated at Nalanda College, Colombo and Ananda College.
3.
Rajitha Senaratne was very critical of the Jayewardene government and its policies.
4.
When film actor Vijaya Kumaratunga left the SLFP and founded the Sri Lanka People's Party in the early 1980s Rajitha Senaratne joined the newly formed party.
5.
Rajitha Senaratne was critical of the JVP's violence and "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" policy and became a target of the JVP.
6.
Rajitha Senaratne sustained injuries in the attack which left two pieces of shrapnel in his skull.
7.
Rajitha Senaratne was one of the USA's candidates at the 1988 provincial council election and was elected to the Western Provincial Council.
8.
Rajitha Senaratne was one of the USA's candidates in Colombo District at the 1989 parliamentary election but the USA failed to win any seats in the district.
9.
Chandrika Kumaratunga was the PFF's leader whilst Rajitha Senaratne was its general-secretary.
10.
Rajitha Senaratne became a vocal critic of Chandrika Kumaratunga, who had been elected president in November 1994, and her PA government.
11.
On 31 March 2000 the Court of Appeal upheld a petition against Rajitha Senaratne, ruling that he was disqualified from sitting or voting in Parliament as he had done business with state institutions.
12.
Rajitha Senaratne was one of the UNP's candidates in Kalutara District at the 2000 parliamentary election.
13.
Rajitha Senaratne was re-elected at the 2001 parliamentary election as a United National Front candidate.
14.
The UNF defeated the PA at the election after which Rajitha Senaratne was appointed Project Minister of Land.
15.
Rajitha Senaratne contested the 2004 parliamentary election as one of the UNF's candidates in Kalutara District.
16.
Rajitha Senaratne however lost his ministerial position after the UNF was defeated by the newly formed United People's Freedom Alliance.
17.
In January 2007 several UNF MPs including Rajitha Senaratne defected to the SLFP dominated UPFA government.
18.
Rajitha Senaratne was rewarded by being appointed Minister of Construction and Engineering Services.
19.
Rajitha Senaratne contested the 2010 parliamentary election as one of the UPFA's candidates in Kalutara District.
20.
Rajitha Senaratne was appointed Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development after the election.
21.
Rajitha Senaratne was awarded an honorary doctorate from the St Petersburg Fundamental International Educational Institute in 2011.
22.
Rajitha Senaratne left the UPFA in November 2014 to support common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the 2015 presidential election.
23.
Subsequently, Sirisena supporters, including Rajitha Senaratne, who had been expelled from the SLFP were readmitted to the SLFP and Rajitha Senaratne became a vice president of the SLFP in February 2015.
24.
Rajitha Senaratne denied the accusations of abduction, saying that Dinithe Aloka had "come willingly".
25.
Rajitha Senaratne was one of the UNFGG's candidates in Kalutara District at the 2015 parliamentary election.
26.
Rajitha Senaratne suffered a heart attack on 19 February 2016 and was initially treated at a private hospital in Colombo.
27.
Rajitha Senaratne was flown to the private Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore where he underwent a three-hour heart bypass surgery on 19 February 2016.
28.
Rajitha Senaratne was accused of spreading conspiracy theories during the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Bombings where he claimed the Presidential Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa had funded some members of the National Tawheed Jamaath terrorist group.
29.
In May 2019 Rajitha Senaratne falsely claimed that the virus had spread to school children in Colombo.