PANAJI: Four years after crossing over from the Congress to the BJP, Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar was on Saturday inducted into the Goa Cabinet, filling the ministerial vacancy that had remained unoccupied since the demise of former minister Ravi Naik in October 2025.
Governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju administered the oath of office and secrecy to Amonkar at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan, Dona Paula, in the presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other Cabinet colleagues. Amonkar's induction comes ahead of the February 2027 Assembly elections and marks the third Cabinet reshuffle under the Sawant-led government. He fills the vacancy left by Naik, who was serving as Agriculture Minister when he died following a cardiac arrest on October 15, 2025, at the age of 79.
Speaking after taking oath, Amonkar expressed gratitude to the people of his constituency, the Chief Minister and the party leadership for entrusting him with the responsibility. "The people of my region have always treated me as a friend, a brother and, above all, as family. I share a respectful relationship with the people of my constituency," he said. He said people from Mormugao and other parts of Goa had turned up in large numbers for the swearing-in ceremony to extend their blessings. "I will always remain indebted to them and will move forward with their blessings," he said.
Acknowledging that his tenure could be relatively short with the Assembly elections approaching, Amonkar said he was confident of meeting people's expectations within the available time. "Whether two months remain or whatever time is available, people's expectations are high. We have been working for them continuously. Whatever responsibility the government gave me previously, we fulfilled it faithfully. I am confident that I will complete the work for the people of Goa within the available timeframe," he said.
Amonkar said development projects in Mormugao were ongoing and pending works were being actively pursued. He expressed confidence that the remaining projects would be completed with the support of the Chief Minister and the Cabinet. Thanking the CM Sawant and BJP president Damodar Naik, he said he was grateful to the party leadership for placing its trust in him. On portfolio allocation, Amonkar said no decision had been communicated to him yet and that he would willingly accept whatever responsibility the Chief Minister assigned.
When asked whether he was happy about his elevation, he said he had always been happy to take on responsibilities and that the people of his constituency were equally enthusiastic about his induction. "From the very beginning we have been happy, we are happy now, and we will remain happy going forward. As you can see, all the people from my constituency are just as happy. In fact, they are even happier than I am," he said.
Amonkar won the 2022 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket, defeating three-time BJP MLA Milind Naik from Mormugao by 1,941 votes. In September 2022, he joined the BJP 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 served as vice-president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee and held positions in the party's youth wing. Following the defection, he was appointed chairman of the Goa Sewage and Infrastructural Development Corporation.
His induction makes him the third former Congress MLA to join the Sawant Cabinet after switching parties. Nuvem MLA Aleixo Sequeira and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat were inducted earlier. With Amonkar's entry, Mormugao taluka will have two ministers in the Cabinet, the other being Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho.
