You may have heard about many political leaders who are still remembered for their amazing contributions to society. They have done amazing jobs for their nation and are renowned for changing the lives of the common man. While considering all such great names, we often forget to mention some less-recognized personalities who may not have achieved any great target with their initiatives but have given a new direction to the approach and thinking of millions of people. Here, we’ll discuss the Sri Lankan political leader, Nirupama Rajapaksa Nadesan who kept herself connected with the life of the common people despite holding high positions in politics.
Early life of Nirupama Nadesan
Born in the legendary Rajapaksa family, Nirupama had always noticed that members of her family are extremely active in politics. She completed her graduation from the University of Moratuwa and later she decided to make a career in politics. It was not only her dream to be a successful politician but was an enthusiasm to serve the people of her nation. She knew from a very young age that good political leadership require a connection with people. She always remained focused on developing frameworks that must have the capacity to transform. Good governance must have the qualities to observe and understand people’s pain and take strict decisions to find the appropriate solutions.
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Nirupama Political Family
Although the Rajapaksa family was considered among the most powerful and influential political families in Sri Lanka, Nirupama never even tried to take leverage of her family’s political clout. Nirupama Rajapaksa Nadesan was quite different from others and hence, she never came to the people with too many political resources, security and other facilities that represent she belonged to one of the biggest political parties in the country. She met everyone like a common lady and tried to connect with people emotionally so that they can easily share their feelings with her. People noticed that quality very soon and they started sharing their problems with her. She knew that with the power of the vote, every individual can change the entire nation and she always used to understand people that they should use this right wisely. At the time of the election, do not fall under the influence of anyone, assess what is in the interest of you and your society.
By now, she had made a special identity among the public. People understood that in the form of a leader, they have got such a personality who could not only understand their pain but also could make some extraordinary efforts to overcome them, which was not possible for other people till now. Though Nirupama had no interest in taking part in active politics, numerous people welfare organizations and leaders convinced her to contest the MP election and come to the power to bring changes to society.
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Political Career
1994, she was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Hambantota District. Instead of making celebrations of her victory, she came back directly to the people of her constituency and thanked all for the support they gave to her. By now, she understood that leadership involves multiple skills and talents. A good leader brings people together, motivates all of them to raise their voices against corruption, and takes back their rights from the top-level authorities. Despite having her first time as the representative of a constituency, she had collected enough experience through her research that what were the common challenges, she need to overcome to provide people with what they wish for.
One of the biggest challenges there was to provide quality education to rural and backward areas and empower women to participate in every field and show their talent to the whole world. With exceptional political leadership and amazing qualities, Nirupama Rajapaksa Nadesan had successfully connected to leading organizations that were taking effective initiatives to help the poor and needy.
Challenges She faced
She also addressed the government about the major challenges in her constituency and got additional funds to develop infrastructural growth projects. For her magnificent efforts, she again got elected successive times in 2005 and 2010. In 2010, the ruling party noticed that Nirupama is consistently receiving great support from the people and is becoming quite people among the public. They appreciated the support she was receiving and decided to reward Nirupama with the honorable position of deputy minister in the government. She was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Water Supply and Drainage where she got the power to implement her initiatives to a large level.
She made commendable efforts to convince World Bank and offer financial assistance to redevelop the natural water resources in Sri Lanka. She understood the major challenges people were facing with the major water problems in the agriculture sector and what effective steps need to be taken to overcome those. She also made notable business relations with leading industries and maximize their revenue by implementing infrastructural development projects among the water resources. These projects offered employment to thousands of people in the country. Apart from that, the leading political legend is also remembered for making so many women’s welfare initiatives in Sri Lanka. Political leadership showed by Nirupama is essential to have in every system to raise voices to support the unemployed, and the uneducated and of course for women’s empowerment.