With the blessings of then UNP Leader J. R. Jayewardene, he contested the Ampara seat at the 1977 General Election and won with a majority of 8,000 votes recording the first ever victory for the UNP in Ampara electorate.
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At the 1970 General Election, Ampara was the citadel of leftist forces and Dayaratne who resigned from government service and contested the Ampara seat, lost to his rival, Somaratne Senarath, a staunch leftist from Ampara.
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In 1961, he gained admission to Brighton Technical College, England where he graduated as an electrical engineer in 1965 and returned home on April 23, 1965.