India map presented by AP leaders omits Telangana, sparks political storm

BRS terms the act as a calculated affront to Telangana’s identity and violation of law; demands BJP leadership to issue public apology

Hyderabad: A major political storm has erupted in Telangana after a map of India excluding the State was presented to Andhra Pradesh Minister and TDP leader Nara Lokesh by BJP AP unit president PVN Madhav during a cultural event. The map, which includes States like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh but omits Telangana, has triggered widespread outrage, with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) accusing the BJP and TDP of deliberate insult and distortion of constitutional reality.

The controversy flared after a photograph showing Madhav handing over the map to Lokesh went viral on social media. The BRS described the act as a calculated affront to Telangana’s identity and a violation of the law, as distorting the India map is a punishable offence.

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BRS working president KT Rama Rao lashed out at the BJP, holding Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party leadership responsible for what he termed ‘blatant disregard’ for Telangana. In a strongly worded statement issued on Thursday, he condemned the act as ‘absolutely unacceptable’.

“We have fought for generations for our cultural identity, our rightful place in history, and our geographical position – Telangana. Today, your Andhra Pradesh State BJP chief, Madhav Garu, has belittled our struggle by gifting a united Andhra Pradesh map and ignoring the existence of Telangana. This is absolutely unacceptable,” Rama Rao said.

Highlighting that Telangana was formed through a democratic and constitutional process on June 2, 2014, after decades of struggle and sacrifice, he asked, “What are we if our history is erased?” and called the act an insult to the State’s history and martyrs.

He demanded that Modi clarify whether this incident reflected the BJP’s political stance on Telangana. “Sir, I request you to clarify whether this reflects your party’s plan or political agenda,” he said, urging the BJP leadership to issue a public apology to the people of the State. “If it’s a genuine oversight, I demand an apology from your party leadership to the people of Telangana.”

BRS leader Dasoju Sravan also condemned the act, stating that displaying a map of India without Telangana was a dangerous and offensive move that struck at the core of the State’s identity.

“It is shocking that while Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are clearly acknowledged on the map, Telangana, the 29th State of the Indian Union, born out of decades of democratic people’s struggle, historical sacrifice, and a constitutional process is erased. This selective recognition of these senior leaders of Andhra Pradesh reflects more than ignorance. It reveals deep-rooted arrogance, contempt, a deliberate denial, and a political conspiracy to delegitimise Telangana’s rightful existence and identity,” Sravan said.

He called the act a ‘cruel assault on every soul of Telanganite who fought for Telangana’s statehood’ and ‘an attack on the Constitution of India, which guarantees the territorial integrity and recognition of all its States’.

“On one hand, they loot our Godavari and Krishna water, and now, they insult us by showing a map of India that erases the very identity of Telangana,” he said, demanding that the Telangana DGP take suo motu cognisance of the incident and register a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

“This is not just about a map. It is about our struggle, our sacrifices, our history, our identity and, above all, our constitutional rights,” he said.