Two days ago, five sitting legislators, including three from the Shiv Sena, joined the Congress.

They included heavyweights like Vinayak Nimhan (Shivajinagar), Manikrao Kokate (Sinnar) and Rajendra Raut (Barshi) - all from the Sena and close to senior Congress leader and state revenue minister Narayan Rane.

In addition, the Congress also secured the support of Independents Satej Patil (Kolhapur) and Sadashiv Patil (Khanapur), and a former NCP legislator from Ausa, Kisanrao Jadhav, also joined the party.