Francis D'Souza, former Deputy Chief Minister of Goa, dies aged 64

February 17, 2019

On Thursday,, previously the of the state of , , died. He had been suffering from. He was 64 years old.

D'Souza had relatively recently been dismissed from being a minister because of his health. He had advanced pancreatic cancer.

Goa's government announced three days of mourning for D'Souza. Damodar Naik, spokesperson for the, said D'Souza had been an "iconic" leader of the party.

Chief Minister  he was "[e]xtremely pained to hear about the demise of my dear childhood friend, colleague and former Deputy Chief Minister (Dy CM) of Goa advocate Francis D'Souza. A wonderful human being and a leader loved by all. He devoted himself to public service. His demise is a great personal loss". D'Souza worked with Manohar's government, being the Deputy Chief Minister.

State Congress President Girish Chodankar called D'Souza "humble and soft-spoken". The in Goa, in its statement, said he was a "gentleman politician".