The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly criticized the Tamil Nadu Congress for allegedly displaying a distorted map of India, igniting a fresh controversy and accusations of undermining national integrity. The BJP has accused Congress of "appeasement politics".

The controversy arose after a banner was displayed at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Belagavi, Karnataka, with a map that purportedly omitted Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Aksai Chin. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi stated that the map displayed on a banner at the Congress Working Committee meeting venue omitted Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Aksai Chin. The BJP has interpreted this as a grave insult to India's sovereignty and has questioned the Congress party's commitment to national unity.

Trivedi questioned whether Congress had plans to divide India along provincial, caste, and class lines, further asserting that the party's actions were contributing to internal discord. He demanded clarity on whether Congress had established any internal committees or proposals aimed at continuing this “anti-India politics”.

The BJP has also linked the incident to previous instances where Congress leaders and allies have been accused of displaying similar distorted maps. They pointed to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the ruling party in Tamil Nadu and an ally of Congress, for displaying a similar map in October of the previous year. BJP representatives also mentioned Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor being involved in similar controversies in 2020 and 2022. The repeated nature of these incidents has led the BJP to question whether they are isolated mistakes or a deliberate strategy to undermine India's territorial integrity.

Karnataka Congress leaders clarified that they removed some posters in Belagavi following complaints of “wrong depiction” of the map. Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said the controversial posters were put up by a private company and not the Congress.

The BJP's reaction has been sharp and multi-pronged. Besides directly attacking the Congress, the BJP has also alluded to the possible influence of external forces, such as George Soros, a Hungarian-American philanthropist, who the BJP claims supports critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They have alleged a "nexus" between the Congress and "anti-India forces" that are supposedly dreaming of disintegrating the country.

The incident has further fueled the ongoing political polarization between the BJP and the Congress, with accusations of "anti-India politics" being traded. The BJP has called for a thorough investigation into the matter and has demanded an explanation from the Congress party. The Congress, on the other hand, has attempted to downplay the issue, with Karnataka Congress leaders stating that the posters were removed once the mistake was noticed.