He was the second son of Jakolis Warnakula Edirisuriya (a prominent planter and the Vidana Arachchi of Pahala Kanuketiya) and Amadoru née Jayawardena.
At the first parliamentary general election in 1947 he contested the Hambantota electorate, where he narrowly lost to Lakshman Rajapaksa, by a mere 400 votes.
[2] He was however successful at the 1952 general elections where he won the seat of Hambantota with a majority of almost 4,000 votes.
At the 1965 general elections he again contested the Tissamaharama electorate however this time as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate where he was elected, narrowly defeating the sitting member, Rajapaska, by 236 votes.
[5] In August 1965 he resigned from the SLFP and joined the United National Party parliamentary group but refused the post of Deputy Minister of Agriculture, which he was offered.