One Flight, One Handshake: What Happened Between Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray? Watch

In a scene that quickly set Maharashtra’s political circles buzzing, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray found themselves aboard the same flight from Mumbai to Nagpur on Friday.

The political rivals exchanged a handshake and greeted each other during the journey, with photographs of the encounter soon circulating online and fuelling speculation over whether the brief interaction carried any deeper political significance.

Really wondering what are they talking about ? They all took off today eveing for Nagpur from Mumbai in the same flight. Though they are going for totally different purposes. #DevendraFadnavis #UddhavThackrey pic.twitter.com/ZasQ3ZSFgE

— Megha Prasad (@MeghaSPrasad) June 26, 2026

For now, however, both camps have dismissed the moment as nothing more than a coincidence and a display of basic political courtesy.

Fadnavis was travelling to his home turf of Nagpur for pre-scheduled government and party engagements. Thackeray, meanwhile, arrived in the city to begin a three-day tour of Vidarbha and Marathwada, during which he is expected to visit Lok Sabha constituencies once represented by MPs from his party who have since crossed over to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

A Handshake, A Flight Reading Between Lines

In Maharashtra politics, even an ordinary flight can become a talking point.

With the BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) remaining bitter rivals after the dramatic political realignments of recent years, a simple handshake between Fadnavis and Thackeray was enough to spark fresh rounds of political speculation.

There is no indication of any political meeting or backchannel discussions. Instead, the episode serves as a reminder that in the state’s charged political atmosphere, even routine gestures of civility are often viewed through a political lens.

Sometimes, a shared flight is just a shared flight. In Maharashtra, however, even that can make headlines.