Overview

• The BJP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena accused Congress of insulting Uddhav Thackeray by seating him, his son Aaditya and Sanjay Raut in the last row at Rahul Gandhi’s Delhi meeting.
• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recalled Thackeray’s front-row treatment under the NDA and Deputy CM Shinde mocked that Congress had ‘shown them their place.’
• Sanjay Raut said the group moved back voluntarily to avoid glare from the presentation screen and Aaditya Thackeray insisted the seating choice was theirs.
• The clash highlights how symbolic gestures like seating positions have become a focal point in the ongoing split between Uddhav Thackeray’s UBT faction and the Shinde group.
• Both camps are intensifying their rhetoric as optics shape public perception ahead of upcoming municipal elections.