BJP legislator and Goa's former Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza was laid to rest with full state honours Saturday evening at his hometown Mapusa

near here.

D'Souza, 64, had died on February 14 after a prolonged illness.

The mortal remains of the BJP leader were kept at his private residence in Mapusa, around 9 km from here, for the last two days during which thousands of people paid homage to their beloved leader.

D'Souza's body, wrapped in the tricolour, was carried from his residence to St Jerome Church in the town in a decorated truck.

A funeral mass was conducted at the church in the presence of hundreds of people, including Archbishop of Goa and Daman Fr Filipe Neri Ferrao and senior leaders.

Paying tribute to his father, the late BJP leader's son Joshua D'Souza termed him as a "man of the people who was always eager to help those who approached him".

State BJP president Vinay Tendulkar, in his address during the mass, recalled how D'Souza helped him during his tenure as an MLA.

He said the demise of D'Souza, the MLA from Mapusa, was a big loss for the saffron party.

D'Souza was first elected to the legislative assembly in 1999 as a Goa Rajiv Congress candidate. He later joined the BJP and was elected from Mapusa in the assembly polls held in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017.

D'Souza was appointed Deputy Chief Minister when the BJPformed its government in 2012 under Manohar Parrikars leadership.

The veteran legislator continued in the post when Parrikar moved to the Centre as defence minister and BJP leader Laxmikant Parsekar took over as chief minister in November 2014.

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