Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday, 27 June confirmed that he held a 'high-level discussion' with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis aboard a commercial flight from Mumbai to Nagpur the previous day, setting off fresh speculation about back-channel talks between the two fierce political rivals. Thackeray made the remarks during a media interaction in Yavatmal, where he is on a grassroots outreach tour of the Washim-Yavatmal constituency.

The Flight Encounter

On Friday, 26 June, Thackeray travelled alongside senior party leaders — Aaditya Thackeray, Sanjay Raut, and Anil Desai — on the same commercial aircraft as Chief Minister Fadnavis. The coincidence of the rival leaders sharing a flight immediately triggered speculation across Maharashtra's political circles.

Addressing reporters in Yavatmal the following day, Thackeray said: 'We had a high-level discussion with the Chief Minister on the flight.' He added that 'the full report of yesterday's meeting and whatever has been decided will become clear in the coming days,' deliberately leaving the substance of their exchange undisclosed.

Outreach After MP Defections

The Yavatmal tour is Thackeray's first significant grassroots push since six Lok Sabha MPs broke away from the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction to align with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena. The tour centres on the home turf of rebel leader Sanjay Deshmukh, signalling a direct political counter-offensive.

Thackeray was unsparing in his critique of the defectors. He rejected their stated reason — a lack of development funds — as a cover story, alleging that the 'funds' the rebels cited were financial inducements used to engineer the split. Invoking the now-famous '50 Khoke' (₹50 crore) slogan that circulated during the previous government collapse, he quipped: 'Even during the Bail Pola festival in Vidarbha, people wrote those slogans on the bulls. The MLAs got ₹50 crore back then; now imagine how much these MPs must have received.'

He reminded the departing leaders that their electoral victories were built on his personal campaigning. 'These MPs were elected only because I toured for them. They won entirely on my word,' he asserted, adding that he now owes an apology to voters who backed those candidates on the strength of the Shiv Sena name and the late Balasaheb Thackeray's legacy.

Apology to Voters and Party Workers

Thackeray framed the tour as an act of accountability. 'The voters chose these candidates blindly, looking only at the face of the Shiv Sena and the Sena Supremo, without scrutinising the candidates' backgrounds,' he said. 'I am going out to meet the voters and apologise to them for what happened.'

He announced a sustained outreach campaign, stating: 'Starting today, I am going to meet my hardcore, loyal Shiv Sainiks in the constituencies of these traitors.' The campaign is aimed at consolidating the party's core base ahead of any future electoral contest.

Sharp Rebuke Over Press Abuse

Thackeray also turned his attention to the treatment of journalists, naming Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Dina Patil in a pointed condemnation of abusive conduct toward media personnel. 'Shiv Sainiks and journalists are with me. We have all been witnessing the kind of language being used over the last few days. I feel ashamed that these people stayed with me under a guise,' he said.

'One can express anger, but abusing people is not the culture of Maharashtra,' he added, distancing himself and his party from behaviour he described as unbecoming of the state's political tradition.

With the details of his mid-air conversation with Fadnavis still under wraps, Maharashtra's political watchers will be closely tracking what, if anything, emerges from what Thackeray himself called a high-level discussion at altitude.