India, Sept. 30 -- In a significant political development, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Monday formally inducted Chandrakant Patil, the Navi Mumbai district president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP), into the Shiv Sena. This is just the latest in a series of defections that have severely impacted the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the city. It also marks an escalation in the ongoing political tug-of-war within the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Navi Mumbai.

Patil's shift in loyalty, along with his son Vineet's, follows recent defections by top leaders of the Congress to the Shiv Sena, which has witnessed the bulk of incoming members from various parties compared to the Ganesh Naik-led BJP in recent times. Explain...