COLOMBO: The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), a new grouping of political parties of the Indian Origin Tamils (IOTs), is fighting the August 17 Sri Lankan parliamentary elections in alliance with the United National Party (UNP), TPA leader, Mano Ganeshan, said in a press release on Friday.
While Ganeshan is standing in Colombo District, Palani Thigambaram and V.S.Rathakrishnan is fighting in Nuwara Eliya district. Thigambaram (National Workers’ Front) and Rathakrishnan (Up Country Peoples’ Front) are ministers in the UNP government led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ganeshan is the leader of the Democratic Peoples’ Front (DPF).
Others TPA members in the fray are: Shan Kuhavarathan (DPF-Colombo); M.Thilakaraj (NWF-Nuwara Eliya); M.Velu (DPF-Kandy); A.Aravindakumar (UPF-Badulla); M.Chandrakumar (DPF-Ratnapura); and S.Sasikumar (DPF-Gampaha).
The other party of the IOTs, the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC), led by Arumugan Thondaman, will go with the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) currently led by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. CWC has a base in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla Districts.