PANAJI
Former two-term MLA and Deputy Speaker Simon D'Souza, passed away at GMC in the wee hours of Wednesday.
According to the mortality bulletin, Simon D'Souza passed away in the wee hours of Wednesday. He was 81 and was suffering from hypertension and Ischemic Heart Disease.
The immediate cause of his demise has been listed as Acute Coronary Syndrome.
D'Souza (82) was elected to the Goa legislative assembly twice, first when still an Union Territory in 1984 from the Dabolim constituency and after Statehood in 1989 from Vasco-da-Gama, as a Congress MLA.
D'Souza was a leader of the toddy-tapper community.
Meanwhile, Panaji-based engineer, Datta Naik, a staunch Konkani protagonist and a prominent leader of the Konkani Porjecho Avaaz (KPA) which led the official language movement of the mid-1980s, also passed away on Wednesday morning after a prolonged illness.
A chemical engineer, Naik was a successful first-generation entrepreneur having launched and managed his own construction company for over three decades.
He was also one of the early members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party when the party had just begun its political foray in the mid-1980s.
He is the father of AAP leader Valmiki Naik.
