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 |
Periannan Pillai Devaraj (born 21 February 1929) is a Sri Lankan politician and former minister of state.
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]
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]