Panaji: BJP MLA Sankalp Amonkar was on Saturday sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in the Dr. Pramod Sawant-led Goa government, filling the vacancy that had remained unoccupied since the death of former Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik in October last year.
Governor P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju administered the oath of office and secrecy to Amonkar at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan in Dona Paula, in the presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other Cabinet colleagues.
Amonkar represents the Mormugao Assembly constituency in South Goa. His induction comes ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
The Cabinet berth had fallen vacant following the demise of veteran politician and former Goa 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 Agriculture Minister in the Sawant-led government, had served as Goa Chief Minister twice and was elected to the state Assembly seven times during his political career.
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 joined the BJP in September 2022 along with seven other Congress MLAs following the merger of two-thirds of the Congress Legislature Party with the ruling party.
Before joining the BJP, Amonkar had served as 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.
The Sawant-led government had been functioning with one vacancy in its 12-member Council of Ministers since Naik’s death.
