Deputy Ministers clash in Matale

10 March 2011 01:50 pm

A tense situation erupted at a UPFA meeting in Matale this evening, following a heated argument between Transport Deputy Minister Rohana Dissanayake and Higher Education Deputy Minister Nandimithra Ekanayake, sources said.

Following the argument, the police immediately took away Deputy Minister Ekanayake from the stage. Later a group of people, who were among the crowd, had hurled stones towards the vehicle in which Ekanayake was travelling. The meeting was attended by Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, but he had already left when this incident took place.

The tense situation developed when Deputy Minister Ekanayake remarked, “The people involved in this meeting are my people, but I didn’t receive any invitation to attend it. I was sidelined by these henchmen.”

With the remark, Deputy Minister Dissanayake started the argument criticizing Deputy Minister Ekanayake, which led to a tense situation.
It is learnt that apparently having learnt about the incident, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had phoned Deputy Minister Dissanayake.

(M.W.Somaratane and Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa)