Opposition Parliamentarian Chamara Sampath Dasanayake noted last week that the more members of the incumbent Government spoke up, the more votes they risked losing. “One person asked the people not to eat pol sambol or kiri hodi. What will they eat?” he questioned.

Dasanayake and Minister Samantha Vidyaratne engaged in a verbal clash during last Thursday’s (6) parliamentary session with the former questioning the Government side on how President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) had the confidence to ask about the well-being of the northern people. 

Dasanayake claimed that the President had asked the people in Kankesanthurai: “Nallama?” (Are you keeping well?) inquiring about their well-being when it was a case of “Arisi illai, uppu illai!” (No rice, no salt). The Opposition member asked how the President could ask the people of the north if everything was well when the Government had failed to provide basic necessities such as rice and salt.

Subsequently, Minister Vidyaratne told Dasanayake: “We have files on scams which you have been involved in and we will probe everything.”

Dasanayake responded, saying: “The talk of the town now is how you and Government ministers consumed cashew nuts wasting public funds during the Independence Day celebration. You can file legal action against me. I am not scared.” He added that it was the likes of ministers such as Vidyaratne who ruined the President’s path.