Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Nov 7: BJP MLA Sankalp Amonkar was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister in the Dr Pramod Sawant-led Goa government on Saturday, filling the vacancy that had remained unoccupied since the death of former Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik in October 2025.

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 into the Cabinet comes ahead of the 2027 Goa Assembly elections.

The ministerial berth had fallen vacant following the death of veteran politician and former Goa Chief Minister Ravi Naik, who passed away 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 twice as Goa Chief Minister 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 after two-thirds of the Congress Legislature Party merged with the ruling party.

Before joining the BJP, Amonkar had served as vice-president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee and held various positions in the party's youth wing.

Following his induction into 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 Ravi Naik's demise.