C. Rajadurai

Chelliah Rajadurai was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, government minister, and Member of Parliament. He served as the 1st Mayor of Batticaloa from 1967 to 1968.

Early life

Rajadurai was born on 27 July 1927. He was a journalist and a member of the editorial staff of the Sutantiran weekly newspaper.

Political career

Rajadurai was elected to elected to parliament at the 1956 parliamentary election as the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi candidate for Batticaloa. He was re-elected in March 1960, July 1960, 1965 and 1970. He ran again as the Tamil United Liberation Front candidate for Batticaloa in the 1977 parliamentary election and was re-elected.
In March 1979, Rajadurai defected to the United National Party, the then-ruling party, and was rewarded by being appointed Minister of Regional Development and Hindu Cultural Affairs. He was later appointed as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia.
Rajadurai became the first Mayor of Batticaloa in 1967. He was unseated the next year.

Personal life and death

Rajadurai was still politically active in April 2012. In June 2021, he was retired and lived between Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka.
Rajadurai died in Chennai, India on 7 December 2025, at the age of 98.