SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Even as the COVID-19 positive cases showed a decline on Monday with 52 new cases and 125 recoveries, Goa had its 8th death in former Health Minister Dr Suresh Amonkar.
Amonkar was critical for almost a week as he had co-morbid condition. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had said that Amonkar was highly diabetic and had a kidney failure.
He condoled the death of the former Minister saying, “Deeply saddened by the passing away of Dr Suresh Amonkar, former president of BJP Goa Pradesh and former cabinet minister of Goa government. His contribution to the State of Goa is immense and will never be forgotten.”
Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat said, “I am shocked with the unfortunate demise of my close friend, former Health Minister Dr Suresh Amonkar. I shared a close bonding with him. He lived with sincerity & honesty in his personal, professional, political & social career.”
Kamat added, “He always lived with simplicity and served the people of his constituency & State of Goa without any expectations and a single moto to giving his best service to the people.”
Amonkar was first elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly from Pale in 1999 and then in 2002 as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He was Minister of Health, Social Welfare, and Labour & Employment in the Francisco Sardinha cabinet from 1999 to 2000 and then Minister of Health, Labour & Employment, and Factories and Boilers in the first Manohar Parrikar cabinet.
He lost the 2007 Goa Legislative Assembly election to the Congress, he ran as an Independent candidate in 2012 as the party had allotted the ticket to youth leader Pramod Sawant and he lost the election. He joined rebel RSS leader Subhash Velingkar’s Goa Suraksha Manch in November 2016 and was allotted the Sanquelim seat in the 2017 Goa Legislative Assembly election where he received 3,831 votes and came third.
