K. D. Lalkantha

Hon. K. D. Lalkantha MP
කේ.ඩී ලාල්කාන්ත கே.டி.லால்காந்த
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 November 2024
President	Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Prime Minister	Harini Amarasuriya
Preceded by	Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Member of Parliament for Kandy District
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 November 2024
Majority	316,951 preferential votes
Member of Parliament for Anuradhapura District
In office 2001–2010
Minister of Primary Industries
In office April 2004 – May 2005
Personal details
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
Other political affiliations	National People's Power

Kuragamage Don Lalkantha is a Sri Lankan politician who has served as the Minister of Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation since 2024. A member of National People's Power and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Kandy Electoral District in 2024 Sri Lankan parliamentary election. He was formerly member of the parliament for Anuradhapura District from 2001 to 2010.

JVP Insurgency

Lalkantha joined the JVP having completed its five classes orientation programme as a student and was initially attached to the Dematagoda cell before transferring to his hometown in Anuradhapura working for the party at the hight of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection until he was arrested in 1988 by the police, tortured and detained for three months until he was produced before the Anuradhapura Magistrate and sent to a detention camp at the Anuradhapura Prison under a detention order issued by the Magistrate. He escaped from the detention camp during a breakout carried out by the JVP and went into hiding. He then attended a training camp and was sent to the party post at Nochchiyagama as an organizer, tasked with the disrupting the 1988 Sri Lankan presidential election. He was then posted as the party organizer for Egodapattu, building the JVP presence in the area until he was arrested and charged by the Polonnaruwa police and imprisoned at the Welikada Prison.

Arrested for drunk driving

Lalkantha was arrested for driving under the influence of liquor on 1 March 2019 after his vehicle had met with an accident injuring two women in Anuradhapura.

Comments on human–wildlife conflict

On 5 December 2024, Lalkantha received backlash for comments he made in parliament regarding the human–widlife conflict in Sri Lanka. Lalkantha referred to crop-raiding experienced by local farmers, specifically by wild boar and monkey populations in the country. Calling it "animal terrorism," Lalkantha stated that "Farmers must know that there are no legal restrictions preventing them from taking appropriate measures on their land to safeguard their crops from these animals. We urge them to act within their capacity to mitigate the damage caused." He further assured that the government was actively working on a comprehensive solution to the issue.

On 6 December 2024, a protest was held by animal rights activists, led by former presidential candidate Dr. Ajanatha Perera. In part, she stated that animals have as much a right to the land as people do, further going on to talk about human-caused habitat fragmentation due to urbanization and deforestation. She called on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to condemn Lalkantha's 'dangerous' comments, being a member of Dissanayake's cabinet.