R. M. Dharmadasa Banda passes away

Former Supplementary Crops Development Minister R. M. Dharmadasa Banda passed away at a Colombo private hospital last evening. He was 72 years old.

A teacher by profession, he took to politics when his brother R. M. Gunasekera, MP, was shot dead in 1964 and was elected as an MP in 1965. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Textiles Industries in 1977. In 1989 he was Minister of Upcountry Rehabilitation and from 1990-1994, Minister of Agricultural Development and Research.He was appointed a senior advisor to the Public Administration Ministry from 2002-2004 and was again elected to Parliament in 2004.

He joined the dissident UNP group led by Karu Jayasuriya to pledge support to President Rajapaksa and served as Supplementary Crops Development Minister from 2005 to 2009. His son R.M.Harindra Dharmadasa Bandara is a provincial council member of the Uva Province (UPFA). Moneragala District UNP MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara is his nephew.