BJP keeps promise, Mormugao MLA Amonkar is now Goa cabinet minister

BJP lawmaker Sankalp Amonkar was formally installed as a cabinet minister in Goa's government under Dr. Pramod Sawant on Saturday, filling the seat left vacant since former agriculture minister Ravi Naik's death in October. Governor P. Ashok Gajapathy Raju administered the oath of office and secrecy to Amonkar at a ceremony in Dona Paula, attended by Chief Minister Sawant and other cabinet members.

The addition of Amonkar is likely to bolster the BJP's position in the Mormugao region ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. Ravi Naik, who passed away at 79 from a cardiac arrest on October 15, was a key figure in Goa politics, serving twice as Chief Minister and winning the State Assembly seven times. Prior to joining the BJP in September 2022, Amonkar ran as a Congress candidate in the 2022 elections and defeated Milind Naik, a three-time BJP MLA, by 1,941 votes.

He has since served as the chairman of the Goa Sewage and Infrastructural Development Corporation. The Sawant government has been operating with a single ministerial vacancy since Naik's passing.