Congress leader Digambar Kamat said they are celebrating birthdays at a resort in Goa.
Congress candidates are "sticking together" and celebrating back-to-back birthdays at a resort in Goa but party leaders have denied sequestering them amid predictions of a hung verdict when results are announced on Thursday.
The Congress insists that the candidates went to the resort in north Goa "voluntarily", to celebrate a birthday.
"It was my birthday. Normally I would have celebrated in the city but I wanted to call everyone to a central point and I knew the owner of this resort. So we decided to celebrate here," said Congress leader Digambar Kamat, implying that it was more of an informal get-together than the party's desperate attempt to prevent defections.
"Some of them stayed late and decided to stay on till today. The party continued till 12. Today also we will celebrate another candidate's birthday," he added.
Exit polls have predicted 16 seats for both the BJP and the Congress in the 40-member assembly, with a few seats for smaller parties, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
A proactive Congress has already reached out to potential kingmakers, including the Trinamool and AAP.
In 2017, the Congress emerged single-largest but failed to take power as it delayed stitching up alliances. The BJP scored the support of smaller parties, including the MGP, and independent MLAs.
The Congress leader acknowledged that the party lost out, but repeated that this time, there was no reason to fear. "We were hit hard by defections. The BJP insulted the Constitution and stole MLAs. But our candidates are very comfortable and are relaxing," he said.
The Congress has denied that its ally Goa Forward Party is at the same resort. "There is no need. Nobody is being coerced. They have come on their own," he said.
The Congress has reason to be worried, even though it made its candidates . After the 2017 polls, the party lost many MLAs to the BJP.
Vishwajit Rane was the first to quit the Congress and join the BJP. In 2018, two more MLAs switched from the Congress to the BJP.
In July 2019, 10 Congress MLAs crossed over to the BJP.
Last year, months before the polls, Congress MLA Luizinho Faleiro resigned to join the Trinamool Congress.
Over the past five years, the Congress' strength in the 40-member House reduced to two.