Eight of the 11 Congress MLAs in Goa joined the BJP on Wednesday, suggesting their act of betrayal had the blessings of God and timing their move with the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra that the Opposition party is deeply invested in and which has been attracting widespread public support.

Hours after executing his plan to break the Congress in the coastal state, former chief minister Digambar Kamat appeared to claim that his deceit had divine approval.

Asked about the loyalty pledge Congress leaders had taken at temples, churches and mosques before the Assembly elections in February this year, Kamat said: “I went to the temple again and asked God what to do. God told me do whatever is best for you.”

While defections and betrayal have become routine in politics these days, no leader had so far dragged divinity into this cesspool driven by greed and coercion. Kamat had tried to engineer defections a few days ago, too, but the Congress had managed to stave off the crisis through a timely intervention. Now that the party leadership is busy with the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, the operation to pilfer MLAs didn’t face any hurdles.

The Congress lies maimed in Goa, with barely three MLAs in its fold in the 40-member Assembly. Vijai Sardesai, the chief of Congress ally Goa Forward Party, said: “The eight MLAs who have decided — against all political propriety, basic decency and honesty — to pursue their greed for wealth and hunger for power, stand today as the symbols of pure evil. The people of Goa will feel backstabbed.” He accused the BJP of using “deceit and manipulation” to stay in power, saying the MLAs “allowed themselves to be purchased like cattle”.

Sardesai added: “The people will reject these traitors... and brand them as enemies of the people and God.”

The BJP chose to link the development to the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said: “In the coming days, this Congress Chhoro Yatra starting from Goa will spread across the country, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.”

The Congress called the defections “Operation Kichad (mud)”. Party communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “Operation Kichad of the BJP in Goa has been fast-tracked because of the visible success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. The BJP is nervous. A daily dose of diversion and disinformation is handed out to undermine the Yatra. We remain undeterred. We will overcome these dirty tricks of the BJP.”

Such massive defections doubtless cast a shadow on the Congress’s political management at a time when Rahul has generated national goodwill and support with his arduous struggle on the road. Rahul kept the focus on real concerns of the people as the Yatra entered Kollam in Kerala on Wednesday, interacting with students on the inevitability of an inclusive India and with auto drivers on their struggle against poverty.

The Congress leader tweeted: “People who earned Rs 500 a day earlier have to settle for Rs 300 now. Amid this back-breaking inflation, educating children and running the household have become a problem. I stand by these auto drivers and will keep raising my voice against manhgai.”