Gaonkar has also completed a course in diesel mechanic from Government Industrial Training Institute, Curchorem in 1984.

He defeated Indian National Congress (INC) candidate, Satyawan Bhadru Dessai by a margin of 837 votes.

He then successfully contested in the 2007 Goa Legislative Assembly election from the same consistency on the BJP ticket, he lost to INC candidate, Minguelino D'Costa by a margin of 2,305 votes.

[4] He next unsuccessfully contested in the 2017 Goa Legislative Assembly election from the Sanguem constituency on the MGP ticket and lost to Independent candidate, Prasad Gaonkar by a margin of 7,152 votes.

[citation needed] In August 2020, Gaonkar quit MGP after serving for more than three years to join the BJP party.