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My decision to enter politics was rather sudden and unexpected because I had not the slightest intention, or even in the wildest of my dreams of entering active politics. This was furthest from my thoughts.

It is true that I did whatever I could to help my husband and his Party which he founded and nurtured. In the 1952 and 1956 General Elections Campaign, I took a very active part not for me to enter Parliament, but to send my husband and his Party members there and to be able to form a Government.

Giving him time to campaign for his party candidates in other electorates, I undertook to organise with his advice and guidance of course, his constituency, Veyangoda, as it was then known. Then after 1959 it became two constituencies - Attangalla and Dompe. Organising and campaigning in his constituency was not difficult, because he had a large hand of very loyal supporters who extended to him their unstinted support and co-operation. I also found time to address meetings in some other Electorates during the 1956 Election campaign.

It was in the 1952 General Election that SWRD really had a contestant from the UNP. He was a man from the area from a known family, but not a popular family. The LSSP also fielded a candidate - one Mr. Chandra Gunasekera (who later became a Senator and a Member of Parliament for Kottawa) who lost his deposit.

My husband won with a majority of 32544 votes. During these elections, there was heavy rain and campaigning particularly in some areas became difficult due to floods. Some of the villages were under water and could not be approached except by boat. I had never gone on a rowing boat. I was rather nervous because in case due to some bad luck the boat capsized I would have been in trouble, as I could not swim.

Anyway, I plucked courage and boats were arranged for us to travel to the marooned villages. Several boat loads of people accompanied us. It was an experience for me, and I must say I really enjoyed it, and forgot the fear I had. Several days I had to travel by boat. It was an adventure for me at that time. When my mother heard about it she was horrified at the thought. During those tours, our meals were provided by some supporters in the villages.

They were only too happy to give us a meal. Sri Lankans that way are really hospitable especially in the rural areas. You visit a home however poor they may be, they will offer you even a cup of plain tea with sugar or jaggery or a king coconut or even a young coconut (kurumba) plucked off the tree. Some places we were offered manioc or sweet potatoes or boiled jak with chillie sambol, which probably was prepared for their own meal. I enjoyed eating with them, because that was really a local custom in the rural areas - sharing what you have with visitors in your home during meal times.

On polling day

On Polling day, I was touring the Electorate to see that everything was working smoothly. When I reached the flooded areas where some polling stations were marooned and even the Polling Officers had to get to the station by boat, I was touched and moved by the scenes I saw.

As some of the voters could not get to their polling booths to cast their vote, they waded across. Women were wading in their bathing clothes to go and cast their vote for the man they loved and revered. When I spoke to some of them, they told me somehow we want to go and cast our vote that was encouraging indeed.

It also showed that our people even in the remotest areas were politically conscious of their right to elect their members of their choice. These were days when people were able to go and cast their vote to the person of their choice without intimidation and obstruction and harassment.

Probably, moreover those were days when the UNP had not mastered the only mode of elections they knew now. Intimidation, thuggery, bribery, harassment and rigging has now become the pattern at any elections. Whether it be the 'Referendum', General or Local Elections, DDC or Provincial Elections, it has become one pattern, as mentioned above.

In the 1952 Elections, the SLFP got nine seats. The Party had been formed only nine months earlier. It did not have enough time to organise island-wide. Parliament was suddenly dissolved by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake and elections declared. It was unexpected and naturally we were not quite ready to face an election.

Apart from the organisation, funds were necessary. It was said that Dudley dissolved Parliament in order not to give time to SWRD to organise his Party. This was told to me by no less a person than the former Governor General, the late Sir Oliver Goonetilleke. He mentioned it to me at a wedding of a daughter of a well-known family. In fact, he more or less boasted to me that it was he who advised Dudley to take that step. I immediately mentioned this to my husband on returning from the wedding. He was not surprised.

SWRD was elected Leader of the Opposition by all the Parties in the Opposition, including the LSSP, which also was able to get 9 seats, though it was the oldest political party in Sri Lanka. They were able to put up a strong opposition. At this time, the Government decided to raise the price of rice which was 25 cents to 75 cents per measure.

This after having promised the people during the elections that if the UNP formed the Government they would never raise the price of rice. They broke their promise to the people within a few months and they asked for trouble. J.R. Jayewardene was the Minister of Finance and Sir Oliver was also a Minister in Dudley's Cabinet.

Hartals were organised, demonstrations on the roads. The Government declared an Emergency to deal with the situation. Several people were killed. The situation was getting out of control. Dudley was unhappy and he decided to resign from the Premiership and Sir John Kotalewala took over.

It is rumoured that the whole affair was a plot to get Dudley out. Sir John carried on making various statements such as that he will make Sinhalese and Tamil both Official languages. This created a big rumpus among the Sinhalese. Later on at a Party Convention this policy was changed to 'Sinhala Only.'

In 1956, Sir John dissolved Parliament one year before his period was over and called an Election. SWRD faced the Elections in 1956 by forming a Front of some parties and groups, under the leadership of the SLFP, Philip Goonewardane's VLSSP and groups led by I.M.R.A. Iriyagolla and W. Dahanayake.

This combination of parties was called 'The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna' (People's United Front). The LSSP and the CP could not join the Front because their policy on the official language question, which was one of the main issues at the Election, differed to that of the front (MEP) and on the issue of the Stateless persons. But there was an understanding between these Left Parties and the MEP that as far as possible in certain seats contested by leaders they would avoid contesting each other, so as not to split the anti-UNP vote. That was adhered to as far as possible.

The 1956 General Elections was a hectic campaign. There was a terrific amount of enthusiasm among the people. SWRD was drawing tremendous crowds for his meetings. In some places, he was mobbed by the people. He could not keep to his scheduled time for meetings.

Sometimes he was five to six hours late, mainly due to being stopped on the way and asked to speak at unscheduled meetings. At some places he arrived after midnight and still the people had waited for him. The man who was to be their Saviour. A fortnight before the Polling date, it was known that the MEP would sweep the elections. And it was so.

The UNP Government Party was reduced to 8 seats with many of their powerful Ministers defeated. SWRD was called upon to form the Government by the then Governor-General, Sir Oliver Goonetilleke. Even the polling dates were fixed to suit the UNP. The law then permitted the polls to be spread over 3 days.

On the first date they fixed those constituencies the UNP thought were their strongholds. On the first day, they fixed those constituencies of the Prime Minister's (Sir John Kotelawala) and the Ministers (April 4th and 6th). The SLFP constituencies which were considered SLFP strongholds were fixed for the last date of poll - 8th April.

What happened on the 4th April poll, was that Sir John Kotelawala, Minister M.D. Banda and a few others (8 in all) retained their seats with reduced majorities and the rest lost their seats. So the UNP, which was the Governing party was reduced to 8 seats.

Oil take over

In 1962 - Sri Lanka (Ceylon then) faced a very severe foreign exchange crisis due to world prices of goods going up.

The Government had to examine ways and means of curtailing expenditure on the imports without putting too much burden on the people. Oil imports were one of the areas which we found we could make some adjustments to save foreign exchange.

At that time 3 foreign Multi-National Companies, Shell, Caltex, and Esso were the sole importers and distributors locally of oil. They had the monopoly of both import and distribution. Apparently they were importing from their own companies abroad over oil fields in the Middle East. So they could dictate and control the prices.

When we made inquiries we found that oil could be imported at much cheaper rates from countries like Egypt and Soviet Union. The difference in price was considerate.

I summoned the representatives of oil companies and requested them to import oil from these countries where the prices were much less. They were not prepared to oblige at all. As a compromise the Government offered to import the oil from the cheaper sources and the companies could distribute oil. To this the reply I got from one of the reps of the oil companies was "we are not prepared to put red oil through our pipes." My answer to them "Then gentlemen my Government will have no alternative, but to do the import and distribution and for that we will have to take over the existing pipelines and other equipment available."

If the companies had co-operated with my proposal the need for a take over would not have been necessary. The Bill was introduced in Parliament immediately with promise by law to pay compensation for which arbitrators were to be appointed to determine the quantum of compensation to be paid.

In the meantime, America protested as one of the oil companies was American. The Government of USA threatened to stop all aid to Sri Lanka. That did not deter us from doing what was in the interest of our country. The arbitration board was appointed and the companies were requested to make their claims. The claims made were far above the actual value of their properties taken over.

The American Ambassador Miss Willis, I must say was trying her best to avoid a situation which would sever relations between our two countries. For the sake of an amicable settlement the arbitration board was prepared to accommodate them, half way. While discussions were going on for an agreement between the Ambassador and the Government of Sri Lanka, suddenly we were informed one morning that aid had been stopped. Even the Ambassador seemed surprised. This proved that the oil cartels were very powerful with the US Government. All aid including scholarships granted to students for studies were withdrawn.

While the US stopped aid to us the oil companies did their utmost to see the downfall of our Government. (They were compensated for it by the UNP after the election paying them probably all what they claimed. This showed how powerful the oil cartel was. The take over was done without much disruption, and Oil was obtained from Soviet Union, and Egypt and other cheaper sources. The Petroleum Corporation was set up for these purposes. And it is a Corporation that showed profits. After the UNP Government took over, the Corporation lost millions.

Nehru's funeral

I represented Sri Lanka and my Government. We were at a Cabinet meeting when we got the sad news. Cabinet Minister decided that I should represent Sri Lanka and Government. I had to immediately leave to be in time for the funeral. As there was no flight to Delhi or even to Madras that day (flights were few then) an Airforce plane was prepared and we flew to Pona and took the connecting flight to Delhi. Anura insisted on going. He was a great admirer of Pandit Nehru. When Pandit Nehru visited Ceylon in 1957 he, as a small boy met him and made his acquaintances with him.

On the day of the funeral, Delhi was a sea of heads. Such massive crowds. People of all walks of life including world leaders were there to pay their respects to this great statesman and leader loved and revered by his people. It was apparent the way people were sobbing as his body exposed in an open gun carriage were wending its way to the cremation grounds.

The World leaders and dignitaries who were there were accommodated in one enclosure and the relatives in one. When Mrs. Gandhi and Mrs. Pandit saw me they beckoned to me to join them in the family enclosure. I was able to get a close view of the whole ceremony.

After the ceremony there was a terrific stampede by the people and it was with great difficulty that we were safely conducted to our cars by the security officers.

I was glad that I was able to be present at the funeral to pay my last respects to a man for whom I had the highest regard and respect and admiration.

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