'Minnal Ranga' tipped to cross over to Rajapaksa alliance

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 May 2010, 15:26 GMT]
Two parliamentarians of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) are likely to cross over to the ruling party shortly, according to political sources in Colombo. One is Mr.M.A.Abdul Cader and other is Mr.Ranga Jayaratnam, a well known personality in the electronic media as he was conducting Minnal programme in Sakthi TV of the MTV organization.

Mr.Abdul Cader was elected from the Kandy district and Mr.Ranga from the Nuwara Eliya district on the UNP ticket

Although Ranga voted against the motion seeking extension of State of Emergency, he said in parliament last Wednesday that he would severe all connection with the UNP. He is a member of the Puravasi Peramuna but contested on the UNP ticket.

Informed Tamil circles in Colombo said Ranga was known for his friendship with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for a long time.

But, Mr.Cader voted with the government in extending the State of Emergency. He said the UNP leadership ignored him and nominated Rauf Hakim, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) on the UNP ticket in Kandy district.

This had split the Muslim votes in the district thus depriving more seats to UNP Muslim candidates. Hence he decided to leave the UNP and to join the ruling party. He was seen at the reception accorded to the new Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne in Kandy.