Congress gears up for massive pro-Palestine rally in Kerala, challenges BJP's pro-Israel stance

Thiruvananthapuram: After the Muslim League and the CPI(M), the Congress is set to organise a massive pro-Palestine rally in the north Kerala city of Kozhikode next week.

The Congress said that it is the only political party capable of rectifying the pro-Israel stance adopted by the BJP-led Central government.

KPCC chief K Sudhakaran said on Thursday that over 50,000 Congress workers would participate in the rally scheduled for November 23 and they would be mobilised from Kozhikode and other districts.

"All secular, democratic believers will attend the Congress-led rally at Kozhikode beach on November 23," Sudhakaran said in a statement here.

AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal will inaugurate the solidarity rally, with leaders from various socio-political spheres, writers, and cultural icons also in attendance.

The Congress' move comes in response to the ongoing pro-Palestine campaign by the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala.

"The Congress is the only organisation capable of correcting the policies of the BJP government, which has adopted a pro-Israel stance," Sudhakaran said.

He highlighted the Congress's historical solidarity with the Palestinian people, contrasting it with what he deemed as the CPI(M)'s "opportunistic campaigns exploiting the plight of the Palestinian people." Sudhakaran alleged that the CPI(M) attempted to sabotage the Congress' Kozhikode rally with the assistance of the state government machinery.

He claimed that the Congress's Palestine solidarity event had unsettled the ruling party.

As pro-Palestine rallies are being conducted by the CPI(M), Congress, and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala, the BJP-led NDA has decided to hold protest marches in four places, accusing them of advocating "communal and pro-terrorism" policies.

A BJP spokesperson has stated that the rallies would be held in Kozhikode, Thrissur, and Ernakulam, with a public meeting scheduled in Pathanamthitta in two weeks.

The saffron party aims to protest against what it perceives as the "communal appeasement policies" of the Left government and the Congress, he had said on Monday.