On Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashed out at the Congress for displaying a distorted map of India on a banner at the venue of the Opposition party's executive committee meeting in Belagavi, Karnataka.

It accused the Congress of engaging in "appeasement politics" and questioned whether the action was taken at the request of Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros, whom the BJP has charged with funding the opponents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and Aksai Chin were not included on the map on the banner during the Congress Working Committee meeting, according to BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi. “...the picture about the Congress working with the forces bent to destroy India is quite clear now…and this is not just one incident.” Trivedi stated that Congress’s ally, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which rules Tamil Nadu,   shared a similar map in October last year that left out POK and Aksai Chin. 

Trivedi also pointed out that Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition leader, and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor did something similar in 2020 and 2022. Trivedi questioned whether these actions were mere coincidences or part of a deliberate anti-India agenda. “…Is this coming from Soros Secret Service?” Trivedi asserted that the protests against the Citizen (Amendment) Act, or CAA, were about more than just maps and that the Congress backed those who advocated for the cutting of the Siliguri Corridor, also known as the "Chicken's Neck," a narrow strip of land in West Bengal that connects northeastern states with the rest of India. “What was the relation between Chicken’s Neck during the CAA protests.”

The Congress, he continued, is the main opposition party, and its members in Parliament have vowed to protect India's unity and integrity. “...so the Congress and the leader of the Opposition are violating the constitution or not,” said Trivedi. “The Congress is working to divide India based on province, caste and class.” Trivedi mentioned that a Congress leader from Karnataka had suggested the idea of nationhood for the state, arguing that it contributed more taxes. He also referred to former Union minister Saifuddin Soz, who stated that Kashmiris would prefer independence if given the freedom to choose, a point highlighted in Soz's book. Trivedi questioned whether there were similar thoughts in Belgavi about how India should be divided. “Or some Congress proposal is under consideration or has the party [Congress] high command set up a committee which will continue the kind of anti-India politics or is there an attempt to make people fight against each other.”