Mumbai, June 26 (AHN) In a development that has sent ripples through Maharashtra's political circles, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday travelled together on the same flight from Mumbai to Nagpur.

The unexpected encounter comes at a time of severe political friction in the state.

Despite their deep-seated political rivalry, witnesses reported that the two leaders set aside bitterness to exchange cordial greetings and engage in a brief conversation.

The flight also carried a cohort of top Sena (UBT) leaders, including MLA Aaditya Thackeray and Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai, and former MP Vinayak Raut.

In a moment of lighthearted banter that quickly went viral, CM Fadnavis reportedly quipped to Thackeray that the very fact that they had met was the biggest news story at the time.

The travel by CM Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray on the same flight comes amid ongoing political debate over the defection of six UBT MPs to the Shinde faction.

It also comes after Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde recently announced that Operation Tiger was far from over.

He hinted at more defections from the Shiv Sena (UBT), even as two Lok Sabha MPs from the Uddhav Thackeray camp formally announced their decision to join the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

The coincidental shared flight is tied directly to Thackeray's damage-control efforts following the latest split.

Following the defection of his six lawmakers, Thackeray decided to launch a major state-wide outreach campaign to directly interact with grassroots party cadres and counter the narrative of his weakening grip.

He is scheduled to begin this tour on June 27 from the Yavatmal-Washim constituency, one of the regions hit by the latest defection, and was flying into Nagpur in transit to kickstart the rally.

He will visit those constituencies from which the party's MPs rebelled to join the Shinde faction.

He has already announced that he will also tender an apology to the voters during his visit.

While political analysts believe the mid-air meeting was purely coincidental, in the highly volatile world of Maharashtra politics, any face-to-face interaction between CM Fadnavis and Thackeray is bound to trigger intense speculation about shifting equations ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.