Basil Rajapaksa
| Basil Rohana Rajapaksha | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister of Economic Development | |
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In office 23 April 2010 – 08 January 2015 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | Sri Lanka |
| Citizenship | Dual citizenship - Sri Lankan/American |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan/American |
| Political party | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna |
| Other political affiliations |
[ Sri Lanka Freedom Party |
| Spouse(s) | Pushpa Rajapaksa |
| Children | Thejani, Bimalka, Asanka |
| Alma mater | Isipathana College , Ananda College |
| Religion | Buddhist |
| Website | His Website |
Basil Rohana Rajapaksa (known as Basil) is a Sri Lankan politician and was a member of parliament from 2007-2015 . During the period of 2005-2010 he served as a presidential senior advisor for then President Mahinda Rajapaksa and in 2008 he was appointed as a member of parliament from the national list. He was the Cabinet minister for Economic Development in President Mahinda Rajapaksa's second term (2010-2015). In the 2010 parliamentary election he was elected from Gampaha district by obtaining the highest number of preferential votes in Sri Lanka.
He hails from a well known political family in South of Sri Lanka. His father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a prominent politician, independence agitator, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. He is a younger brother of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and another brother, Gothabaya Rajapaksa, who was a powerful defense secretary in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. Furthermore, his older brother Chamal Rajapaksa served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. during 2010-2015 period He had his secondary education at Isipathana College and Ananda College Colombo.
At the 1977 General Elections, he contested Mulkirigala Electorate from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party but was defeated. He was the youngest SLFP candidate that contested in this election. In the 1977 election only 8 members managed to win from the SLFP. Basil Rajapaksa later worked with the first executive President J.R. Jayewardene and joined the United National Party, He made this decision to join the UNP due to some infighting with in the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Although he was with JR Jayawardana, he openly supported his brother Mahinda Rajapakasa. While he was in UNP he became very close to minister Gamini Dissanayake. When SLFP and coalition parties won the 1994 he actively assisted Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. In 1997 his wife won the US green card lottery and migrated to USA with his family. He frequently visited Sri Lanka specially when ever there were elections.
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