Karnataka Congress once again courted controversy by posting a wrong map of Jammu and Kashmir in a social media post about the IMF loan to Pakistan.

The map that showed J&K in Pakistan drew sharp criticism from the BJP. Instantly latching on to the opportunity, the saffron party alleged that the Congress has been doing it to appease its Muslim vote bank.

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An embarrassed Congress deleted the post but not before the damage was done.

When his attention was drawn to the episode, Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President D K Shivakumar tried to explain it away as a “minor error” while admitting that someone had committed a mischief. “Nobody can remove J&K from the map, somebody has done mischief,” he said, adding, “Everyone involved in that mistake has been removed. I have sacked those who were handling the matter.”

This is not the first time Congress used a wrong map of the country. In December last year, distorted maps were spotted with the portion of J&K missing on Congress banners during the party’s CWC meet in Belagavi on the 100th anniversary of the Belgaum session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.

Then too, the BJP had accused the Congress of minority appeasement. What is more, the party went on to link the incident to George Soros, an American investor and philanthropist.

The most recent Congress post criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to stop IMF funds to Pakistan contained the wrong map showing J & K in Pakistan.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka said by tweeting a map showing Kashmir as belonging to Pakistan, the Karnataka Congress has once again demonstrated its affection for “sinful” Pakistan. “Overall, there is no doubt that the IT cell of the Karnataka Congress party is a sleeper cell of Pakistani terrorists,” he said in a post on ‘X’.

He even attributed the statement issued by Siddaramaiah before the launch of Operation Sindoor that there was no need for a war to soft corner for Pakistan.