Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

. He is a former leader and president of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress

All Ceylon Tamil Congress

All Ceylon Tamil Congress , is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.-History:The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament...

.

Political career

Vinayagamoorthy was a long standing member of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress

All Ceylon Tamil Congress

All Ceylon Tamil Congress , is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka.-History:The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament...

 (ACTC). He took on the leadership of the party following the murder of Kumar Ponnambalam

Kumar Ponnambalam

Kumar Ponnambalam was a prominent defence lawyer and a controversial minority Tamil nationalist politician from Sri Lanka...

 in January 2000. He was one the ACTC's candidates for Jaffna District

Jaffna Electoral District

Jaffna Electoral District is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district covers the administrative districts of Jaffna and Kilinochchi in the Northern province...

 at the 2000 parliamentary election

Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2000

The elections were called by President Chandrika Kumaratunga for October 24, 2000.The People's Alliance government Kumaratunga had led for six years was facing increasing criticism on two fronts: a series of military defeats at the hands of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the...

. He was elected and entered Parliament. He relinquished leadership of the ACTC to Ponnambalam's son Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam

Gajendrakumar Gangaser Ponnambalam, is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, former Member of Parliament and lawyer. He is the current leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, a member of the Tamil National People's Front ....

 when he entered politics in 2001.

In 2001 the ACTC, Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front

Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front

The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front is a Sri Lankan political party and a former militant separatist group.-Militant separatists:The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K...

, Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization

Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization

The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization is an Eelam Tamil organisation campaigning for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka. The TELO was originally created as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a...

 and Tamil United Liberation Front

Tamil United Liberation Front

The Tamil United Liberation Front is a political party in Sri Lanka which seeks independence for the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka.-Formation:...

 formed the Tamil National Alliance

Tamil National Alliance

The Tamil National Alliance is a powerful minority Sri Lankan Tamil political alliance in Sri Lanka. It was formed as an amalgamation of moderate Tamil parties as well as number of former rebel groups...

 (TNA). Vinayagamoorthy was one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District at the 2001 parliamentary election

Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2001

Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on December 6, 2001, just a little over a year after the last elections in October 2000.-Background:The People's Alliance government faced a blow when most of the SLMC MPs left the coalition...

. He was re-elected. He was one of the TNA's candidates in Vanni District at the 2004 parliamentary election

Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2004

Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 2 April 2004. The ruling United National Party of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was defeated, winning only eighty two seats in the 225-member Sri Lankan parliament. The opposition United People's Freedom Alliance won 105 seats...

 but failed to get elected after coming sixth amongst the TNA candidates.

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam left the Tamil National Alliance

Tamil National Alliance

The Tamil National Alliance is a powerful minority Sri Lankan Tamil political alliance in Sri Lanka. It was formed as an amalgamation of moderate Tamil parties as well as number of former rebel groups...

 in 2010, taking the ACTC with him but Vinayagamoorthy stayed with the TNA. He was one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District at the 2010 parliamentary election

Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2010

The 2010 Sri Lankan parliamentary election was held on April 8 and April 20, 2010, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 14th Parliament. 14,088,500 Sri Lankans were eligible to vote in the election at 11,102 polling stations...

. He was elected and re-entered Parliament.