Former SLFP MP Tissa Karaliyadda joins SJB

Veteran politician and former Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Anuradhapura district MP Tissa Karaliyadda officially joined the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) over the weekend.

Karaliyadda joined the SJB after meeting with party leader Sajith Premadasa in Polonnaruwa on Saturday. Premadasa was in town for a party rally when he welcomed Karaliyadda into the SJB. The event was also attended by SJB MP Rohana Bandara.

Karaliyadda entered Parliament representing the Anuradhapura district and has served as the Cabinet Minister for Child Development and Women’s Affairs, as well as the Minister of Indigenous Medicine.

The veteran politician found himself embroiled in controversy in 2015 when a photograph of him alongside underworld figure Iron Ranasinghe, alias SF Loku Malli, a prime suspect in the murder of nightclub owner Wasantha de Zoysa, went viral. At the time Karaliyadda denied any connection to Ranasinghe and the murder of de Zoysa in Anuradhapura.