Anuradha Jayaratne

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Hon.

| name = Anuradha Jayaratne

| native_name = අනුරාධ ජයරත්න
அனுராதா ஜயரத்ன

| honorific-suffix = MP

| image =

| caption =

| office = Parliamentary Leader of the New Democratic Front

| leader = Ranil Wickremesinghe

| term_start = 3 December 2024

| term_end =

| predecessor = Position established

| successor =

| office1 = Minister of State for Justice and Prisons Reforms

| term_start1 = 8 September 2022

| term_end1 = 23 September 2024

| president1 = Ranil Wickremesinghe

| primeminister1 = Dinesh Gunawardena

| minister1 = Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe
Ali Sabry

| predecessor1 = Position established

| successor1 = Vacant

| office2 = Minister of State for Irrigation{{Efn|Minister of State for Tanks, Reservoirs and Irrigation Development Related to Rural Paddy Fields from 12 August 2020 to 3 April 2022.}}

| term_start2 = 12 August 2020

| term_end2 = 9 May 2022

| president2 = Gotabaya Rajapaksa

| primeminister2 = Mahinda Rajapaksa

| minister2 = Chamal Rajapaksa
Janaka Wakkumbura

| predecessor2 = Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena{{Efn|As Minister of State for Irrigation and Rural Development}}

| successor2 = Shasheendra Rajapaksa

| constituency_MP3 = Kandy District

| parliament3 = Sri Lankan

| term_start3 = 1 September 2015

| term_end3 =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1985|12|22}}

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Sri Lankan

| party = New Democratic Front (Since 2024)

| otherparty = Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna

| spouse =

| partner =

| relations = D. M. Jayaratne (father)

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater = Royal College, Colombo,
Trinity College, Kandy

| occupation =

| profession = Lawyer

| signature =

| website = http://anuradhajayaratne.com

| footnotes = {{Notelist}}

}}

Dissanayake Mudiyanse Anuradha Lanka Pradeep Jayaratne (born 22 December 1985) is a Sri Lankan politician who is serving as the Parliamentary Leader of the New Democratic Front.{{cite web |title=Anuradha Jayaratne appointed leader of NDF parliamentary group |url=https://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=103947 |accessdate=3 December 2024|work=Ada Derana |date=3 December 2024 }} He is a Member of Parliament from the Kandy District. He was the former State Minister of Rural irrigation and tanks development, former member of the Central Provincial Council and is the son of the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne.

Education

Educated at Trinity College, Kandy and Royal College, Colombo, he gained an LL.B. from the University of Buckingham and completed the law exams at the Sri Lanka Law College taking oaths as an Attorney at law in 2010. He thereafter gained an LL.M. from the University of Colombo.

Political career

After becoming a lawyer, Anuradha went into active politics working as Private Secretary in 2010 to his father, who was the Prime Minister. In 2013, he contested the 2013 Sri Lankan provincial council election and was elected to the Central Provincial Council gaining the highest number of preferential votes yet Sarath Ekanayake was preferred over him for the post of Chief Minister.{{cite web | url=http://dailymirror.lk/news/36518-protest-against-appointment-of-cp-chief-minister.html | title=Protest against appointment of CP Chief Minister | work=Daily News | date=3 October 2013 | access-date=4 October 2013}}{{cite web | url=https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/president-denies-pms-son-chief-minister-post-slfp-old-guard-unhappy/ | title=President Denies PM's Son Chief Minister post; SLFP Old Guard Unhappy | publisher=Colombo Telegraph | date=October 3, 2013 | access-date=4 October 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lankasrinews.com/view.php?2034YZB222eYOBd4ceaymOJ14cedQWAAcadcUcMQ6dad43lAma043d5mY3e042B5m402 |title=President Rajapaksa rebukes PM's son |publisher=LankaSri |date=3 October 2013 |access-date=4 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121095407/http://www.lankasrinews.com/view.php?2034YZB222eYOBd4ceaymOJ14cedQWAAcadcUcMQ6dad43lAma043d5mY3e042B5m402 |archive-date=21 January 2015 }}{{cite web | url=http://www.srilankamirror.lk/news/10724-pm-s-son-s-cm-post-confirmed | title=PM's son's CM post confirmed | publisher=Sri Lanka Mirror | date=24 September 2013 | access-date=4 October 2013}}

He contested the 2015 parliamentary election and was elected to parliament from Kandy. In September 2015, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment by President Maithripala Sirisena. The following year, August 2016 Jayarathne was appointed the Chief Organizer of SLFP, Ududumbara, Kandy District.[http://www.dailymirror.lk/83949/ranil-tops-with-over-500-000-votes-in-colombo Ranil tops with over 500,000 votes in Colombo ] He was re-elected in the 2020 parliamentary election and was appointed State Minister of Rural irrigation and tanks development.{{cite news |title=Sri Lanka President appoints cabinet ministers, state ministers |url=https://economynext.com/sri-lanka-president-appoints-cabinet-ministers-state-ministers-72858/ |access-date=12 August 2020 |publisher=economynext.com}}