Sangaree and his family, like many families of leading Tamil politicians, fled to Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu. After the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in 1987 Sangaree returned to Sri Lanka. He was one of the TULF's candidates in Jaffna District at the 1989 parliamentary election but failed to get elected. He was elected senior vice president of the TULF in 1993. He was one of the TULF's candidates in Vanni District at the 1994 parliamentary election but again failed to get elected.