He contested the 1977 general election from the Maskeliya multi-seat constituency from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

[1] Following the defeat of Sri Lanka Freedom Party government in July 1977, Bandaranaike sat in the opposition in parliament with his mother.

[1] In October 1980, following an investigation by a Special Presidential Commission appointed by President J. R. Jayawardene[4] found corruption and abuses of power, Sirima Bandaranaike and her nephew, Felix Dias Bandaranaike had their civil liberties stripped for a period of seven years by a motion in parliament.

[1] With this backdrop, Anura Bandaranaike became the leader of the opposition in November 1983, when the incumbent Amirthalingam boycotted parliament and lost his seat in October 1983 while refusing swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state.

Bandaranaike served as leader of the opposition till 1988, holding a position once held by his father and mother before him.

[1] He contested the 1989 general election from the Gampaha Electoral District, which was the traditional base of the Bandaranaike family.

When the SLFP led alliance of UPFA won the elections in 2004 with support of the JVP, Bandaranaike was reelected as a member of parliament to the Gampaha District and became Minister of Tourism, Industry and Investment in the new government.

However, Rajapakse appointed Ratnasiri Wickremanayake as prime minister since many saw Bandaranaike did not co-operate in the presidential campaign.

Less than two weeks later, after reconciling with Rajapakse, Bandaranaike agreed to come back into the government, again being sworn in as Minister of National Heritage.

[6][7][8] Bandaranaike died on 16 March 2008 at Visumpaya, his official residence in Colombo, following a period of prolonged illness due to cancer.