The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the oldest ally of the Congress in Kerala, is in a quandary yet again over whether to accept the invitation of the CPI(M) to attend its Palestine solidarity rally in Kozhikode on November 11.

Top leaders of the IUML, or League as the party is referred to in Kerala, are set to meet in Kozhikode on Saturday to decide whether the party should keep aside the political rivalry with the Left to show solidarity for a cause it feels strongly about. That the CPI(M) has not invited the Congress for the event has made matters worse for the League.

“This issue (about Palestine) is not about alliance politics or elections in Kerala. This concerns everyone with a conscience. So League is a democratic party which takes decisions through consultations. Tomorrow, we will sit and decide. We are not sharing a political dais with the CPM. This is for a public cause,” PMA Salam, IUML general secretary, told reporters on Friday.

The CPI(M)’s pro-Palestine rally is scheduled to take place at the Sarovaram Trade Centre in Kozhikode on November 11 and will be inaugurated by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. It follows a similar rally organised by the League at Kozhikode beach on October 26 at which Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was the chief guest.

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Apart from the League, the CPI(M) has also invited Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulema, the largest body of Sunni clerics in the state, as well as the Kerala Muslim Jama’ath and Mujahid factions to the event.

This is the second time in nearly four months that the CPI(M) has invited the League to attend one of its programmes. In late July, the Left had sent an invitation to the League to take part in its seminar against the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) proposal of the BJP-led Centre. At the time, the League had delicately declined the offer, stating that any protest against the UCC has to involve the Congress, which it said is the glue in the anti-BJP opposition front.

In an indication that the party feels strongly about the Palestine cause, IUML Lok Sabha MP ET Muhammad Basheer had on Thursday said that the party will join the pro-Palestine rally of the CPI(M) if it gets an invite. “Every day, we are reading the reports from (Gaza), it is an issue that should be discussed nationally. The cruelty being seen there is unparallelled. Efforts must be made to organise public programmes and form opinions…so if they call us, we can go,” he said.

The CPI(M) has been wooing the League for some time in a bid to bring it into the LDF fold and thus consolidate its Muslim vote bank, especially in north Kerala. By doing so, it will also weaken the Congress-led UDF of which the League is an important partner.

The Congress on Friday wasn’t impressed with the CPM invitation to the League. “The CPI(M) understands that it will not win the upcoming elections. So it is doing the job of a bandicoot rat by creating issues between us. The Congress working committee has announced unconditional support to Palestine and it has been same stand since Jawaharlal Nehru. We have not diluted it,” said Congress MP K Muraleedharan.