When Priyanka met Akhilesh on a Lucknow flight

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who is leading her party's charge in Uttar Pradesh, and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav were co-passengers on an afternoon flight to Lucknow and had a brief interaction.

Both the leaders were taking Vistara's 1.35 p.m. Delhi to Lucknow flight, and according to sources, they exchanged pleasantries, briefly spoke to each other, and said that they will meet soon.

The Samajwadi Party is pitted against the BJP while the Congress leader is fighting for her party's survival in the state. Priyanka Gandhi will flag off "Pratigya Yatra" on Saturday from Barabanki to Bundelkhand to galvanise support for the party.

Both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party had fought the 2017 Assembly election in alliance, but failed miserably. Akhilesh Yadav is now stitching alliances with the smaller parties and has asserted that that he will not ally with any big parties.

The SP has also alleged that the Congress is being positioned as the main challenger to the BJP by the Yogi Adityanath government itself.

It is also smelling a BJP conspiracy in the hype Priyanka Gandhi is getting and claims the ruling party is seeking to promote her "struggles - IANS