Kanagasabai Ganeshalingam (3 January 1938 – 4 December 2006) was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician. He was Mayor of Colombo.

K. Ganeshalingam
Mayor of Colombo
In office
June 1996 – March 1997
Preceded byRatnasiri Rajapakse
Succeeded byKaru Jayasuriya
Personal details
Born(1938-01-03)3 January 1938
Puloly, Ceylon
Died4 December 2006(2006-12-04) (aged 68)
Political partyUnited National Party
Alma materHartley College
S. Thomas' College
University of Ceylon
ProfessionAccountant

Early life and family

edit

Ganeshalingam was born on 3 January 1938 in Puloly in northern Ceylon.[1][2] He was the son of Kanagasabai, a proctor, and Parvathipillai.[3]

He was educated at the Hartley College and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia.[1][2] After school he joined the University of Ceylon where he was an elected officer of the student union.[1][2]

Ganeshalingam married Yamuna, daughter of Dr. Sri Pathmanathan.[1][4] They had a son (Kandeepan) and a daughter (Menaka).[3] Ganeshalingam was a Hindu.[2]

Career

edit

After university Ganeshalingam joined Ford Rhodes Thornton & Co as an accountancy student.[1][2] He then entered business.[1] He was director of the Tobacco Corporation and several other state organisations.[3] He was also chairman of Ceylon Oxygen.[3]

Ganeshalingam joined the United National Party (UNP) in 1960.[5] He was appointed treasurer of the UNP in 1989.[3][5][6] He was later elected to Colombo Municipal Council as a UNP candidate.[3] He served as Deputy Mayor of Colombo between July 1991 and the end of 1993.[2] He was acting Mayor of Colombo from January 1994 to June 1996 before serving as Mayor of Colombo between June 1996 and March 1997.[2][7] He resigned from the UNP in January 1997.[5][8] He then contested the 1997 election as a candidate of an independent group backed by the People's Alliance.[6][9] He was re-elected to CMC and served as Leader of the Opposition from May 1997 to April 2002.[3]

Death

edit

Ganeshalingam died in Colombo on 4 December 2006.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Maniccavasgar, Chelvatamby (7 December 2006). "Ganeshalingam, an exceptional human-being". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Maniccavasgar, Chelvathamy (3 January 2012). "K Ganeshalingam's 74th birth anniversary: Multi-faceted and multi-dimensional personality". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "A True Humanist with the mind of Noble Thoughts".
  4. ^ Satyapalan, Franklin R. (3 September 2011). "Mrs. Yamuna Ganeshalingam contests CMC on UPFA ticket". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  5. ^ a b c Wagista, Kuamaradasa (2 February 1997). "'UNP not my target'". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  6. ^ a b "Former Colombo Mayor K. Ganeshalingam dead". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 5 December 2006.
  7. ^ "Past Mayors of Colombo". Colombo Municipal Council.
  8. ^ "Bullets after bullets hit UNP". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 16 February 1997.
  9. ^ "Wasantha hits out at hopscotch Ganesh". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 6 April 1997.