The Battle for Wellawatte-Galkissa: The Clash of Col-Win and Jaya

In the early years of Sri Lanka's post-independence parliamentary democracy, few figures were as intellectually fierce and politically sharp as Dr. Colvin R. de Silva.

- BY AVISHKA MARIO SENEWIRATNE

A founding member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), he won the Wellawatte-Galkisse seat in the first general election of 1947. From the opposition benches, Colvin emerged as a brilliant orator and fierce debater, renowned for his sharp logic and unwavering socialist ideals.

Dr. Colvin R. de Silva (1906-1989), a Marxist intellectual and founder of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), was elected to Parliament in 1947. He quickly became known for his brilliant oratory and fierce parliamentary debates. Even as an MP, he maintained a flourishing legal career and was widely regarded as one of the country's top criminal lawyers. His most famous courtroom victory came when he was defendeding national cricket hero Mahadevan Sathasivam, accused of murdering his wife. Though doing only his job, the case left a bitter taste among many voters in Colvin's own electorate, who saw the defense as ethically troubling. The middle-class Tamils, especially in Colombo and its suburbs felt uneasy with the case.

One day, when Colvin was campaigning in his constituency, one Tamil lady had asked him “At this rate, none of us will be safe in our beds.” Colvin's reply was “Madam, that is a matter related to your husband, not to me!”

By 1952, following the sudden death of Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake, the United National Party (UNP) was poised to win big. Colvin, undeterred, campaigned relentlessly. His opponent was Stephen de Silva Jayasinghe (1911-1977), a political unknown but an enterprising businessman. As Managing Director of the Gamini Bus Company, Jayasinghe ran a fleet of 80 buses by 1957 and was widely respected in commercial circles. But in 1952, he was a newcomer facing a seasoned political heavyweight.