Government’s Attempt at ‘Psy Op’ Fails Again
Thalatha Reads Resignation Letter but Fails to Table It
Along with Physical Altercations, ‘Donkey’ Dominates TV Discussions
Strongman’s Threat to ‘Diga’ Receives a Forceful Response
‘Gas Cylinder’ Hidden Behind Old Elephant
Talatha’s defection
The ‘Inside Politics’ column stands out as the only political column that uncovers all the hidden conspiracies, deals, and transactions happening behind the scenes in this country before anyone else. While other newspapers filled their political sections with gossip, ‘Inside Politics’ chose a different path, bringing to light the conspiracies hatched in palaces and behind closed doors. We have always been truthful with the people. There have been numerous attempts to spread false information, but we never disclosed unverified facts. Our record speaks for itself—every revelation made in the ‘Inside Politics’ column over the years has proven to be 100% accurate.
Last week, we made another groundbreaking revelation, reporting on a secret meeting that took place in a penthouse atop a large house in Union Place, known as the Hyde Park Corner conspiracy. We understand that those involved in this conspiracy have been deeply unsettled by our report. We possess extensive information on this matter, including details on who brought the MPs to the venue, the number of MPs involved, and the participants in each round of negotiations. We are prepared to disclose these details to the public when the time is right.
Below is the disclosure we made last week through the ‘inside politics’ column, revealing the Hyde Park Corner conspiracy to the nation for the first time.
Hyde Park Corner ‘Plot’
Recently, there have been noticeable shifts between political sides, with some accusing that MPs who join the government from the opposition are rewarded with positions, privileges, and bar licenses. Conversely, ministers from the ruling party defect to the opposition, claiming they seek no rewards. In response to these developments, opposition leaders began investigating these political transfers, focusing on how these shifts are orchestrated, where meetings are held, and the nature of these discussions. Their investigation led them to a notable location that has gained attention in recent days—a large mansion at Hyde Park Corner in Colombo. This mansion, owned by a prominent businessman from a politically connected family, is known for hosting numerous negotiations aimed at bringing SJB MPs and Muslim Congress MPs to the ruling party.
Who is the MP?
The discussions took place in a luxurious penthouse on the top floor of the Hyde Park Corner mansion. According to opposition sources, several SJB MPs and Muslim Congress MPs have been gathering at this location almost every night after 9 PM for discussions. The opposition has now obtained detailed information about these meetings, including the identities of the MPs involved, the content of the discussions, and even the food and drinks served. Notably, a high-ranking government official was also present at the penthouse last week, where they met with several opposition members. Among those who attended was a particular MP known for advocating moral politics and vowing never to switch parties. This MP has always claimed she would rather leave politics than defect, making her presence at the penthouse a significant event.
The opposition leader has now identified all the MPs who participated in these discussions. Muslim Congress leader Rauf Hakeem is also informed about this. At a crucial moment after the presidential election, they are prepared to reveal to the country all the details of the MPs who have struck deals with the government while still in the opposition.
President present
In our previous disclosure, we refrained from naming individuals involved, but this time, we are ready to reveal the names of several participants in that discussion. The MP in question is none other than Ratnapura SJB MP Talatha Athukoralaya, who resigned from her position last Wednesday after delivering a special statement in Parliament.
We’ve learned that a powerful MP from Gampaha and an MP from the North West Province were also present at the final discussion held in the Hyde Park Corner penthouse a week ago. On the same night that Talatha met with the group, Maulana Ali Zaheer was also in attendance. The group arrived at the penthouse around 9 PM, and the President joined the discussion around 10 PM. He remained there until 10:30 PM, during which time dinner was ordered for the group from a major hotel in Colombo.
Who orchestrated the move?
Who facilitated Talatha’s shift from Sajith’s camp to Ranil’s? According to our sources, a key figure who held several positions during the good governance government, fled the country, and has since returned to Sri Lanka, is behind this series of events. It is also rumoured that this individual played a significant role in orchestrating Talatha’s defection actions.
Another tried to break
In addition to Talatha, the ‘inside politics’ column has now come to know that this group had made a huge effort to bring a senior member of SJB closer to the President once again. According to that, Talatha and this person have made a big impact in this regard by making continuous phone calls to the concerned SJB seniors last week. Also, has requested SJB seniors to meet in Colombo. But when he realized that these two are trying to get rid of him just like the bull turns to eat the coconut palm, he decided to disconnect his mobile phone for two days when he could avoid the trouble.
Money allocated to Haris
On the same Wednesday that Talatha resigned from the post of MP, another Member of Parliament of the Muslim Congress, MP. This group also made great efforts to bring Mr. Harris into the government. Accordingly, steps were also taken to allocate a large sum of money to him from the decentralized fund of the government. Haris had taken steps to inform his party leader Hakeem about this last week. Hakeem had informed Sajith that there is no need to stop anyone by force, and if they join the government for money or other privileges, let them all go. But then Sajith took steps to have a long discussion with Hakeem and Haris. This discussion ended with Harris taking back the step of joining the government.
However, even though Talatha resigned from the position of SJB MP last week, she has maintained a very close relationship with the President for the past several years. The reason for that was because Talatha was elected to parliament as the last on the Ratnapura list in the last 2020 general election. While she got 45,000 preferential votes in that election, Hesha Vitana, a young member of parliament, got 60,000 votes. Varuna Liyanage, who contested from Ratnapura for the first time, got 47,000 votes. If there were a few more votes, Talatha would not even be able to enter the parliament.
Talatha’s change
Talatha must have realized that it would be very difficult for her to enter the parliament in the next general election due to the low number of votes she received last time. Because of this, Talatha was closer to Ranil’s team than to Sajith’s team. Moreover, Talatha thought that SJB should continue to unite with UNP. While the district organizers and constituency organizers of other districts were working to bring the party to the top, Talatha did not do anything in Ratnapura. At least none of the working MP was not supported to work. That is why the seat organizers continuously complained to Sajith against Talatha, but being a senior member of the party and working closely with Sajith in the beginning, Sajith did not take any action against Talatha. In the end, under Talatha’s leadership, SJB met the same fate as UNP in Ratnapura.
No letter
However, with Talatha’s resignation, it is possible to see how there has been a great awakening among the SJB seat organizers in Ratnapura. On the same day of Talatha’s departure, the organizers representing Talatha’s constituencies Balangoda, Nivithigala and other constituencies who joined a special press conference in Ratnapura made it clear that even if Talatha left, no constituency organizer or party member would accompany Talatha. Also, on the same day that Talatha left, a former provincial council minister of the SLFP, Bhanu Manupriya, who represented the Uva Provincial Council, joined SJB by expressing his support for Sajith. And the next day, all the Ratnapura constituency organizers came to the opposition leader’s office and took steps to express their support to Sajith.
However, another new story has emerged regarding Talatha. That is, Talatha has not forwarded her resignation letter to the Secretary General of the Parliament even though she said that she would resign from her position in the Parliament. Accordingly, Talatha is still a Member of Parliament. Because of this, Karu Paranavithana, who is ready to come to Parliament to fill Talatha’s vacancy, can be seen still staying at home.
Velukumar Conflict
A prevalent accusation in today’s political landscape is that some Members of Parliament (MPs) are joining the government in exchange for acquiring liquor licenses. This claim, initially brought to light by the opposition in Parliament, was recently echoed by Mr Dayasiri Jayasekara in the political sphere. In a notable move, Dayasiri publicly disclosed a list of councillors who have received liquor licenses, highlighting that Velukumar, who recently aligned with the government, was granted three such licenses. He further alleged that each license is valued at 5 crore rupees, amounting to a total transaction of 15 crores. Dayasiri also implicated MPs Prasanna Ranatunga, Dilum Amunugama, and Lohan Ratwatta, indicating that a full list of MPs involved would be revealed in due time.
The situation escalated during a subsequent episode of the ‘Satana’ political talk show, aired by Sirasa Shakti channel, where P. Digambaram, a prominent figure in the plantation sector, was invited. Digambaram criticized Velukumar for allegedly securing his government position through liquor licenses, mockingly referring to him as ‘Bar Kumar.’ In retaliation, Velukumar made derogatory remarks against Digambaram, calling him ‘Kudu Diga.’
Digambaram, who rose to political prominence from humble beginnings in a working-class family in Badulla, fiercely defended his reputation. Despite the initially spirited discussion, tensions escalated when Velukumar, in a provocative manner, embraced Digambaram, leading to a physical altercation. The situation nearly turned violent, but journalists intervened just in time to de-escalate the conflict.
Donkey
The next notable development unfolded on social media, where the incident quickly gained attention. Facebook and other platforms, led by Malimawa, buzzed with criticism, claiming that MPs from SJB cannot communicate and conduct themselves appropriately during live political discussions. However, within 24 hours, the situation took an unexpected turn.
The shift occurred during a similar confrontation on Derana Wadapitiya, involving Mahinda Jayasinghe, a representative of the Compass. In this incident, SJB member Hesha Withanage was at the centre of the controversy. Jayasinghe, angered by accusations that he had been receiving a teacher’s salary for years without actually teaching in a school, lashed out at Hesha, calling him a ‘pol buruwa’ during the live conversation. Jayasinghe, without refuting the accusation, justified his actions by citing the Institutional Code, which he claimed allows a trade union leader to do so.
This outburst marked a turning point, as the social media campaign by Compass, which had been targeting Digambaran and SJB, abruptly ceased after the “pol buruwa ” remark.
‘Diga’ warned
After being confronted by Digambaran during a live chat, Velukumar went directly to the President’s Secretariat once the program ended. There, after discussing the matter, Digambaran received a phone call from a former influential minister. This ex-powerful figure warned Digambaran that if he reported the incident to the police, he might even face arrest. Unfazed, Digambaran responded confidently.
“How great is it this time? I’m not going in for murder or theft. I’ll be out in a week. I’m not worried about that. In fact, it will boost my campaign. I currently have about 75% of the votes in the plantation areas. If I get arrested and then released, that number could jump to 95%. That’s why I’m saying they should go ahead and put me inside…” Digambaran said, and the plan to file a police complaint was dropped right then and there.
Alliances after Alliances
With the announcement of the presidential election, another thing that happens frequently is forming alliances. By building the biggest alliance in the history of politics, this time it was none other than Sajith who initiated it. Not only the main political parties, but even the majority of MPs in the Parliament are now in alliance with SJB.
However, after the formation of the SJB alliance, the government also said that for the victory of the president, the group from SLFP, the group from Pohottuwa and the UNP would form a huge alliance together. It was further said that Minister Ramesh Pathirana would be the secretary general of the alliance and that the alliance will be formed under the symbol of the chair. But in the end, Ramesh did not get the post of General Secretary even though an alliance was formed with the SLFP MPs leading the way with the chair symbol. That alliance was formed under the leadership of Anura Priyadarshana Yapa.
The reason for the sudden formation of new alliances within the government is nothing else but the fact that the winning candidate dissolves the parliament and conducts a general election within the next 48 hours. Since the ministers of the government have already realized that the current president will come third or fourth in this presidential election, their only aim now is to somehow get to the parliament in the next general election.
Accordingly, with the expulsion of Ramesh Pathirana from Anura Priyadarshana’s alliance, it can be seen that the group that has joined the government in the ‘pot’ is also working to form a separate alliance to run for the general election under the leadership of Dinesh. According to this, it can be seen that 3 groups are emerging within the government, the Anura Priyadarshana group, the Dinesh Gunawardena group and the UNP group. It was under this background that the UNP also suddenly appointed constituency organizers targeting the general election last week.
‘cylinder’ comes off
Meanwhile, last week we made a special disclosure through the column and said that a photo of a gas cylinder covering the elephant, the UNP symbol, has been hung at the United National Party headquarters in Sirikoth. After D.S. Senanayake created the UNP and chose the elephant as its prestigious symbol, we also discovered that for the first time, another symbol other than the elephant has been displayed inside the party headquarters.
However, after our disclosure, a special operation was launched in the Sirikota party headquarters last Monday night. That is, to remove the gas cylinder which was displayed to cover the elephant is removed and placed in to a side that could not be seen by anyone. Accordingly, it is reported that the banner with the removed gas cylinder mark is leaning on a wall behind Sirikota so that no one can see it.
Latest opinion poll
We took steps to inform the readers of ‘Mawrata’ on several occasions about the opinion polls conducted by various parties targeting the presidential election. There, the information about the surveys conducted by internationally recognized and renowned institutions, the information uncovered by the intelligence services, and the information of a fraudulent survey conducted by a person named Dr. Ravi Rannan Eliya according to the contracts given by certain persons, to be disclosed from time to time through our column.
We took action. Here, we pointed out that according to the opinion poll conducted 06 months ago by the internationally recognized organization and intelligence services, it was estimated that Sajith would poll 36%, Anura 22%, Pohottuwa 9% and Ranil 5%. Also, we pointed out that Sajith has come forward with a percentage of 43.5%, JVP has dropped from 22% to 15%, and Ranil has come forward from 5% to 12% through the last opinion poll conducted by the same organization a month ago. We also revealed that the results of the polls conducted by the intelligence services were similar.
However, with days approaching the presidential election, the said international organization has started conducting its final opinion poll. Those activities were started on the last 15th. Its activities are scheduled to end on the 26th and 27th. The speciality here is that for the first time, this opinion poll was conducted with the name of Namal Rajapaksa who was the candidate of Pohottuwa. Since Pohottuwa did not name a candidate in the previous two polls, although only ‘Pohottuwa’ was named, this time because Namal is in the fray, this organization has made arrangements to conduct the poll with Namal’s name. Accordingly, the result this time may be slightly different from the previous result, but many people think that according to the results of the poll, Sajith will come first and Anura second. They are of the opinion that there will be a fight between the President and Namal for the third place.
‘Psy-Op’ again
Under such a background, another psychological operation or ‘Sy-Op’ was launched by the government last week. That is through working to convey an opinion among the media and SJB that with the departure of Talatha Athukorala from SJB, Anura’s popularity has increased even more than Sajith’s. Talatha gave a hint in this regard in her parliamentary speech while leaving the party and said that the JVP, which had a 3% percentage, has now become a big force. Thalatha mentioned that if everyone does not work together to prevent it, everyone will have to commit suicide. Talatha made this statement while looking at a paper as a mental operation to take the SJB MPs to the President when he was afraid of SJB. But because of the knowledge of this false mental operation and because all opinion polls have confirmed that Sajith is leading, there was no possibility of adding any other SJB MP to the government.
Elon Musk coming
Aiming at the presidential election, it can be seen that the government is giving various concessions to the people these days. The government has proposed to increase the salaries of public servants from 2025, and the government has already reduced the electricity bill, reduced the water bill, increased the pensioners’ allowance, provided concessions to fishermen, and increased the interest on the deposits of the elderly. But due to the illegality of such activities during the election season, the Election Commission had taken steps to suspend some of these proposals by last week.
However, even though it is not possible to make appointments during election seasons, the President had already taken steps to give ministerial positions to Vadivel Suresh and Ali Zaheer Maulana last week. The President also appointed Harin Fernando and Manusha Nanayakkara, who were removed from the positions of MPs by the Supreme Court, as presidential advisers with cabinet powers in the same ministries they held. Apart from this, during the election campaign season, the President has already launched many plans to show the country that the popular opinion is with him by showing various tricks. One of the plans has been to get MPs from different parties on the side of the President.
In addition to all these, the attention of the President’s side is also focused on another special matter these days. That is to bring the well-known businessman Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, to Sri Lanka to carry out a massive campaign and gain some advantage in the run-up to the presidential election. According to the information we have, it is reported that the government has prepared plans to bring Elon Musk to Sri Lanka on the 15th, exactly one week before the presidential election.
The Matchmaker?
When this information was reported to us, we also made a special inquiry about the story behind this. It was reported to us that there is something to do with the Hyde Park Corner conspiracy story that we uncovered last week about Elon Musk’s visit to Sri Lanka. Last week, we made a special disclosure and said that Talatha and several MPs from SJB were engaged in a special discussion with the top people of the government in the penthouse of a spacious house near Hyde Park Corner in the Town Hall area. Accordingly, we have come to know that the owner of this house and a close friend of his are also behind the mission of bringing Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, to Sri Lanka. In addition, the owner of Hydepark Corner House and his close friend have been behind the deal to bring Elon Musk’s Star Link Internet Company to Sri Lanka.
When the President visited London about a year ago, we discovered that the owner of the Hyde Park Corner house and his girlfriend had also visited London. At that time, we said that during the President’s visit to London, the owner of this Hyde Park Corner house and his close friend had organized a meeting between a well-known London businessman, Ali Raja Subaskaran aka the owner of Leica Mobile, and the President. In that discussion, there was a discussion regarding the transfer of the Telecom company and Lanka Hospital to Aliraja Subhaskaran. As we said, some months ago Aliraja Subhaskaran had arranged to submit bids for the privatization of Telecom and Lanka Hospital. But at that time his bid was rejected.
Will come During the polls?
However, it has now been confirmed that the owner of Hydepark Corner House and his close friend who intervened in the transaction are behind the deal to bring Star Link and Tesla owner Elon Musk to Sri Lanka. But the problem is whether a world-renowned businessman like Elon Musk come to Sri Lanka and damage his image at a time when a presidential election is being held.
In this way, after the President announced the presidential election, he tried to bring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka. President went to the swearing-in ceremony of Modi as Prime Minister, and took steps to invite Modi to visit Sri Lanka during this period. At that time, the media had reported that Modi had accepted the President’s invitation. Accordingly, the media had also reported that the president had planned to announce that he would run for the presidential election at the event when Modi came to Sri Lanka. However, despite accepting the President’s invitation, Modi did not come to Sri Lanka due to the timing of an election. Accordingly, even if the dates are decided, it is still too early to say whether Elon Musk will also come to Sri Lanka on the 15th under the current situation.
Change the contract
These days, it can be seen how the agreement made between the International Monetary Fund and Sri Lanka has become a major topic in the election stage as well. That is because Sajith as well as Sjb’s economic experts Harsha de Silva, Iran Wickramaratne and Kabir Hashim have assured that they will work to change certain clauses in the agreement of the Financial Fund in a way that is favourable to the people. This group, including Sajith, had taken steps to hold several rounds of discussions with the Financial Fund about it, and in the last discussion, they had also taken steps to show some flexibility for that.
However, the president and the ministers of the government said from the beginning that it is not possible to change even iota of the agreement with the financial fund. They said that if such changes are made, the agreement will be broken and the country will once again move to an era of queues.
However, the President, who insisted that no article of the agreement can be changed in this way, secretly requested financial funds last week to allow amending the tax policy as there is a lot of opposition from the people. However, it is not yet known what kind of response has been received from the financial fund. However, the best case to be seen here is that the government which said that nothing can be changed in the agreement made with the financial fund is now trying to change the agreement as SJB has said.
