Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant inducted Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar into the state cabinet on Saturday, filling the ministerial vacancy created by the death of Ravi Naik in October last year. Governor P A Gajapathi Raju administered the oath of office and secrecy to Amonkar at a ceremony in Panaji.
Sawant said Amonkar’s portfolios would be allocated soon and described the induction as beneficial to the Mormugao constituency and the Bharatiya Janata Party. “A new minister comes with a new vision and new perspective. The portfolios will be allocated soon and he will handle them properly,” the Chief Minister said, according to the Times of India.
Amonkar is the third legislator from the group of eight Congress MLAs who joined the BJP in September 2022 to receive a ministerial position in the Sawant-led cabinet. He had contested the 2022 assembly election on a Congress ticket and defeated BJP’s three-term Mormugao MLA Milind Naik. He later joined the BJP after the Congress failed to secure a majority in the election.
The ministerial appointment comes ahead of Goa’s next assembly election, which is likely to be held in early 2027. The induction is expected to have political significance across the four assembly constituencies in Mormugao taluka, although Amonkar’s departments have not yet been announced.
Amonkar had sought a cabinet berth since joining the BJP. Before his induction, Sawant had appointed him chairperson of the Sewerage and Infrastructural Development Corporation of Goa Ltd. The corporation’s work places the appointment in the state’s wider infrastructure and urban services system, although the government has not yet specified whether Amonkar will receive responsibility for related departments.
The incoming minister said the time available before the election may be limited but promised to focus on completing ongoing works. “Time may be little, but no matter how little… I will do what I can,” Amonkar said. He added that he would fast-track ongoing works and seek to ensure that they were completed before the elections.
The appointment also fulfils an assurance reportedly given to some of the Congress MLAs who shifted to the BJP in 2022. A political commentator cited by the Times of India said the induction could signal that the BJP continues to honour commitments made to those legislators.
The immediate administrative step is the allocation of portfolios to Amonkar. The Chief Minister has said the decision will be announced soon, after which the new minister’s formal responsibilities and role in ongoing government works will become clear.
