Wilfred de Souza
Wilfred de Souza
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Wilfred de Souza

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Wilfred de Souza

Wilfred Anthony de Souza GCIH FRCS FRCSE (23 April 1927 – 4 September 2015) was an Indian surgeon and politician who served as the fifth Chief Minister of Goa, holding the office thrice between 1993 and 1998. He also served as first Deputy Chief Minister of Goa in different occasions from 1980 to 2007, and held the position a total of four times. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and the Goa Rajiv Congress Party, during his third tenure.

Wilfred Anthony de Souza was born in Vagator, Portuguese Goa on 23 April 1927, to Dr. Tito Fermino de Souza and Alina Ana Maria de Souza, of Goan Catholic origin from Anjuna, Goa. Jesuit priest Romuald D'Souza was his brother.

De Souza completed his MB BS from Bombay University. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, England and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. As well as an Honorary Fellow of the International College of Surgeons and also Fellow of the Association of Surgeons of India.

De Souza is credited, together with allies such as Govind Panvelcar, with the first Congress Party victory in Goa in 1980. From 1963 until 1979, Goan politics had been dominated by the regional parties, particularly the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).

In July 1998, De Souza formed the Goa Rajiv Congress Party as a splinter group of the Indian National Congress (INC). He was sworn in as Chief Minister of Goa for the third time on 30 July 1998 and remained in the post until 26 November 1998.

In 1999, De Souza joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and was its Goa president from 1999 to June 2009. During this period he was Deputy Chief Minister of Goa in a coalition government with the INC from February 2005 to June 2007. He failed to retain his seat in the 2007 assembly election.

After he left the party, Gurunath Kulkarni, national general secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party accused him of impeding the party's growth in Goa.

In 2007, he was appointed the Deputy Chairperson of the State Planning Board.

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