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4h ago

Sankalp Amonkar Sworn Into Goa Cabinet

The induction fills a year-long vacancy by bolstering the BJP’s position in the Mormugao region ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.

Goa Governor P A Gajapathi Raju administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sankalp Amonkar in the presence of chief minister Sawant and other cabinet ministers. (HT photo/Special Arrangement)
Governor P. Ashok Gajapathy Raju administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Amonkar at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan in Dona Paula, in the presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other cabinet colleagues. File

Overview

  • Sankalp Amonkar was sworn in as a cabinet minister on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at Lok Bhavan in Dona Paula by Governor P. Ashok Gajapathy Raju.
  • His appointment fills the cabinet berth that had been vacant since the death of veteran minister Ravi Naik in October 2025.
  • Amonkar won Mormugao in 2022 as a Congress candidate, defected to the BJP with seven other MLAs in September 2022, and later served as chairman of the Goa Sewage and Infrastructural Development Corporation.
  • He is the third MLA from that group of defectors to receive a ministerial post after Aleixo Sequeira and Digambar Kamat, restoring the Sawant government to a full 12-member council.
  • The BJP and local observers say the move is meant to strengthen the party’s hold in Mormugao, a port and industrial hub, though Amonkar’s tenure may be short because state elections are expected early in 2027.