No politics in chance meeting between Akhilesh, Priyanka on flight: Samajwadi Party, Congress leaders

Those aware of the matter said besides the brief encounter on the plane, Akhilesh Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra exchanged pleasantries after deboarding

Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress leaders have said there are no political overtones in the chance meeting between SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on a flight from New Delhi to Lucknow on Friday, ahead of the 2022 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were on the same flight. (SOURCED IMAGE)

Those aware of the matter said besides the brief encounter on the plane, Akhilesh Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra exchanged pleasantries after deboarding the flight.

Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said leaders do have chance meetings and no political significance should be attached to the exchange of pleasantries.

“Akhilesh Yadav was sitting in business class while Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s seat was a few rows behind him in the economy class. As a courtesy, Yadav stopped for a while after de-boarding and both of them exchanged pleasantries. We did not get what transpired between the two leaders in the brief meeting. Before leaving the airport, Akhilesh Yadav, however, said ‘let’s meet’ and Priyanka replied ‘sure, we will meet’,” said an eyewitness.

Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ said there was nothing political about the meeting. Exchange of pleasantries is obvious when two leaders meet, she added.

On the other hand, political observers have been left guessing about the significance of the meeting.

“A chance meeting should not be ignored in politics as sometimes such an encounter may lead to serious business. It will be in the interest of the state if the Samajwadi Party and the Congress come close. Uttar Pradesh needs a strong opposition and aligning with smaller political outfits does not serve any purpose. Both the parties should explore the possibilities of an alliance,” said Professor SK Dwivedi, former head of the department of political science, Lucknow University.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress contested the 2017 UP assembly election in alliance with each other but parted ways soon after the polls in which the BJP won power. The SP lost power as it won only 47 seats and the Congress got just seven.

Later, the SP aligned with the BSP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after good results in by-polls in 2018 but the alliance between the two former political rivals ended soon after the parliamentary election.