Goa MLA Sankalp Amonkar was sworn in as a minister in chief minister Pramod Sawant’s cabinet on Saturday, filling the vacancy left by the death of former agriculture minister Ravi Naik, ahead of assembly elections expected early next year.
Goa Governor P A Gajapathi Raju administered the oath of office and secrecy to Amonkar in the presence of chief minister Sawant and other cabinet ministers.
Amonkar, one of eight Congress legislators who shifted from the Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of a defection led by Digambar Kamat, Michael Lobo and others, will become the 12th minister in the Pramod Sawant cabinet.
Speaking on the occasion, Amonkar thanked the BJP leadership at both the state and national levels and insisted there was still much time to get done whatever was possible.
“I don’t believe that it’s late. The way the party is growing stronger I believe whatever time is there no matter how little I will do what I can for the people of Goa. This government has built a bridge in 65 days so I’d say there’s a lot of time to get work done. Whatever is possible I will do on the responsibilities that I will be given,” he said.
Amonkar will have a short tenure, likely lasting only a few months, given that elections are expected to be held early next year.
{{/usCountry}}Amonkar will have a short tenure, likely lasting only a few months, given that elections are expected to be held early next year.
{{/usCountry}}Reshuffles in the Sawant cabinet have been rare, and Amonkar will be the third Congress defector to be given a cabinet berth under Sawant. Before this, Sawant inducted Aleixo Sequeira after dropping BJP minister Nilesh Cabral. Sequeira was subsequently dropped owing to ill-health, and Digambar Kamat was inducted in his stead.
Sawant also replaced Govind Gaude with then Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar.
Sources in the BJP have said that Sawant’s decision to fill the cabinet vacancy is a move to placate Amonkar, who had earlier refused to take charge as chairman of the Sewerage Infrastructure Corporation and was instead holding out for a ministerial berth. He later relented and has now been given a cabinet berth.
A former president of the Indian Youth Congress, Amonkar rose through the ranks before being elected as a first-time MLA on a Congress ticket in 2022 from the Mormugao constituency, unseating the BJP’s incumbent Milind Naik, who was then a three-term MLA.
Chief minister Sawant congratulated the newly inducted minister and extended his best wishes to him “as he takes on this important responsibility.”
“I’m confident that his contribution to the Government will further strengthen our efforts towards the welfare of the people and the development of Goa,” he said.