 After the Black July riots many TULF leaders went into exile but Tiruchelvam stayed in Colombo.Tiruchelvam was appointed as the TULF's National List MP in Parliament following the 1994 parliamentary election.Tiruchelvam, along with G. L. Peiris, were the lead authors of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's 1995 constitutional reform and devolution plan (also known as the "GL-Neelan Package" or "The New Deal").