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Ananthy Sasitharan to contest parliamentary election independently

Northern Provincial Councillor Ananthy Sasitharan will contest the general election in Sri Lanka independently, after the Tamil National Alliance refused to nominate her.

Ms Sasitharan is reported to have filed her nomination papers for the Jaffna electoral district on Thursday.

The councillor, who won the highest number of votes after Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran in the NPC elections, said she would stand on behalf of those directly affected by the armed conflict.

In an interview with Shakthi TV, the Ms Sasitharan said she attempted to gain a nomination through the main TNA constituent party, ITAK, but that this was rejected by the TNA leadership. The EPRLF, the party of TNA spokesperson Suresh Premachandran offered to give her the nomination, however ITAK chief Maavai Senathirajah rejected this, she further said.

Mr Senathirajah later denied he had ever received a request from Ms Sasitharan to contest on a TNA ticket.

Ms Sasitharan's husband, Elilan Sasitharan, is a senior LTTE commander who was taken into military custody in May 2009 and subsequently disappeared.

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