A mini-protest at the protest rally

The hullabaloo triggered by the JO’s stalwart from the Gampaha political family when he left the stage at the recent Nugegoda public rally to sit on the ground is no longer news to the people.

However, only a few people seem to know that the Gampaha stalwart staged this sit-in to protest the refusal by organizers to accommodate on the stage a provincial councilor who, he claimed, brought about 3,000 supporters from Gampaha district to the rally on his behalf. 

Given the security concerns, Nuwara Mahi, Matara Kanchana and Kalutara Rohita had been put in charge of screening those seeking a place on the stage and when the Gampaha stalwart got on to the stage with his PC member-buddy in tow, they had berated him for bringing up an unwanted person and ordered the PC member to leave the stage. A heated exchange ensued and the Gampaha stalwart livid with rage had left the stage with his buddy and had sat on the ground opposite the stage as a show of his displeasure.

However, the verbal dual had continued even after that until the former strongman who arrived in the meantime intervened to make peace, they say.