Barely two months after the Congress seemed to have staved off a defection bid, eight of its 11 MLAs led by top leaders Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo joined the ruling BJP, reducing the opposition party to just three members. The mass defection is hugely embarrassing for the Congress in the middle of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unite India March), at which the BJP has been taking jibes: "Jodo (Unite) your party first."