After Uddhav Thackeray's government in Maharashtra collapsed to a coup in his party planned and executed by the BJP and what became the "Eknath Shinde Sena", an attempt on the Congress in Goa was inevitable.
The famous signed affidavits pledging loyalty to the Congress and the oaths taken in temples and churches became moot as six of 11 Congress MLAs went AWOL on the weekend. For once, the Congress acted promptly, sacking its Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo and publicly blaming ex-Congress Chief Minister Digambar Kamat. They have been drafted as "BJP agents trying for a two-third split in the Congress and offering huge money to MLAs to cross over," said Dinesh Gundu Rao, the Congress's Goa in-charge.
To avoid action under the anti-defection law, the BJP needs eight Congress MLAs on its side.
Significantly, Michael Lobo, who seems to be the rebels' pointsperson, is a complete newcomer to the Congress. He joined the party only in January this year, just before the election; he was still made the Leader of Opposition despite the reservations of many local Goa Congress leaders.
As all signs pointed at a crisis in Goa, Sonia Gandhi, interim Congress president, rushed in Mukul Wasnik late on Sunday night to firefight. The Goa assembly session begins today. Not entirely coincidental is the presence in Goa of BJP's current strategist, Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav. He is apparently there to steer the rebellion in the Congress ranks towards a merger with the BJP. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, however, claimed Mr Yadav was in Goa to manage a cabinet shuffle.
Sunday morning for the Congress began with huge speculation that the BJP had pulled a "Shinde" on them, spiriting away all but one MLA. Through the day, rival camps took turns to brief the media. Once Mr Yadav landed, the Congress seemed to crumble, especially as the party couldn't get hold of the missing MLAs. Resort politics - the euphemism for the corralling of legislators while offering inducements to switch sides - loomed but with the assembly session starting today, the BJP wanted the merger as a fait accompli.
A BJP legislator quipped: "They brought Maharashtra MLAs to Goa, a resort hub. Where will they take the Congress guys now?"
Dinesh Gundu Rao rubbished rumours of a Congress merger with the BJP and promised a show of unity before the media. Reporters waited, and waited, as the presser kept getting delayed with Rao frantically dialing legislators and hos bosses in Delhi. One legislator, it was claimed, had a car breakdown when he was on his way to the presser. Another MLA's excuse was he was "praying in church".
So what do these Goa developments mean for both the parties? The BJP, which formed the government in Goa in February, wants to strengthen its grip by having Congress legislators merge with the party.
The BJP has more or less forced a vertical split in the Congress party with plans for a merger on hold until the assembly session is over.
Make no mistake - Goa's version of "Operation Lotus" is well and truly on track. It will soon gobble up the Congress's MLAs, a la Uddhav Thackeray's Sena in Maharashtra.
For the Congress, it is the familiar existential crisis in Goa as the BJP works on a "Congress-mukt Goa" (a Goa free from the Congress). While six of its legislators are ready to join the BJP, the Congress is desperate to hold on to them and ensure that loyalists feel rewarded. A pep-talk with Rahul and Sonia Gandhi is being planned for the wavering Goa legislators.
The BJP has put the Congress on notice. No political move is off-limits after its Maharashtra success.