At the
1977 General Elections, he contested
Mulkirigala Electorate from the
Sri Lanka Freedom Party but was defeated. He was the youngest SLFP candidate that contested in this election. In the 1977 election, only 8 members managed to win from the SLFP. Basil Rajapaksa later worked with the first executive President
J.R. Jayewardene and joined the
United National Party, He made this decision to join the UNP due to some infighting within the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Although he was with JR Jayawardana, he openly supported his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa. While he was in UNP he became very close to the minister
Gamini Dissanayake. When SLFP and coalition parties won the 1994 he actively assisted Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. In 1997 his wife won the US green card lottery and migrated to the USA with his family. He frequently visited Sri Lanka, especially whenever there were elections. During the 2005 Presidential election campaign, he actively worked for his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's victory and became an advisor for the President. In 2007 he was appointed as a national list member for the Sri Lankan parliament. When the 2010 parliamentary election was announced Basil contested the Gampaha district. As the district leader, he gained over 400,000 votes and became a member of the Parliament who obtained the highest number of preferential votes from the district. In 2021 Basil Rajapaksa returned to the parliament from the
national list and was appointed Finance Minister. During his time as minister Sri Lanka had entered an
economic crisis but Rajapaksa began avoiding parliament sessions for months. The Opposition complained that pressing economic matters could not be discussed due to his absence. Other government MPs were also critical of his behaviour with Udaya Gammanpila, the energy minister claiming that Basil Rajapaksa refused to accept that an economic crisis was growing and that he knew nothing about his subject. Rajapakasa finally attended parliament on 5 April after an absence of four months and after being forced to resign after a series of protests against the government. In 2022, following the nationwide protests, Sri Lanka's ruling Rajapakasa family attempted to flee the country. On 11 July, Rajapakasa's attempt to leave through the VIP terminal at
Colombo International Airport failed after a standoff with airport immigration staff, who refused to board him. He would later successfully leave the country to the United States. On 22 November he returned to Sri Lanka and despite not being an MP or holding any government position he was allowed to use the VIP lounge of Colombo Airport and was given a police escort. In addition he used the Gold Route Service at the BIA which costs over US$200 per person when the VIP service is used and over a hundred SLPP members were seen eating food from the lounge waiting for Basil Rajapaksa to arrive. ==Personal life==