Panaji: BJP MLA Sankalp Amonkar will be inducted into the Dr Pramod Sawant-led Goa cabinet on Saturday, filling the ministerial berth that had remained vacant since the death of former agriculture minister Ravi Naik in October last year.
Amonkar, who represents the Mormugao Assembly constituency, confirmed to GNH on Friday that he had received confirmation from the Chief Minister’s Office regarding his swearing-in ceremony.
“I have been confirmed by the chief minister’s office that I would be sworn in as the minister,” he said.
A senior official from the Chief Minister’s Office also confirmed the swearing-in ceremony, scheduled to be held at Lok Bhavan in Dona Paula at 10 am on Saturday.
The cabinet berth had fallen vacant following the demise of veteran politician and former chief minister Ravi Naik, who died after suffering a cardiac arrest on October 15, 2025, at the age of 79.
Naik, who was serving as the agriculture minister in the Sawant-led government, was a prominent figure in Goa politics and had served as the chief minister twice. He was elected to the state Assembly seven times during his political career and represented Ponda in most of his electoral contests.
Amonkar’s induction comes ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly elections and marks the elevation of the Mormugao legislator, who joined the BJP along with seven other Congress MLAs in September 2022.
Amonkar had contested the 2022 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket and defeated three-time BJP MLA Milind Naik from Mormugao by a margin of 1,941 votes. He subsequently joined the BJP following the merger of two-thirds of the Congress Legislature Party with the ruling party.
Before joining the BJP, Amonkar had served as the vice-president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee and held positions in the party’s youth wing.
After joining the BJP, he was appointed chairman of the Goa Sewage and Infrastructural Development Corporation.
His induction into the cabinet is expected to strengthen the BJP’s representation from the Mormugao region, which has a significant political and economic presence due to the port and industrial activities.
The Sawant-led government had been functioning with one vacancy in its 12-member Council of Ministers since Naik’s death.
