Which one of the following Indian states does not share a common land border with Chhattisgarh?

Introduction / Context:
Understanding the political and physical geography of India includes knowing which states share borders with each other. Chhattisgarh is a centrally located state that touches several neighbouring states, and exam questions often ask you to identify correct or incorrect border sharing pairs. This question tests your knowledge of the exact combination of states that share a land boundary with Chhattisgarh and asks you to pick the state that does not share such a border.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The reference state is Chhattisgarh in central India.
• The options are Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra.
• We assume the exam convention where Andhra Pradesh is treated as not sharing a direct border with Chhattisgarh, while Telangana shares the border in that region.
• States that definitely border Chhattisgarh include Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana.

Concept / Approach:
This problem relies on accurate recall of the India political map. When Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, some earlier border segments got reassigned. Under common exam mapping, Chhattisgarh shares borders with Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in the west, Uttar Pradesh in the north, Jharkhand and Odisha in the east, and Telangana in the south. Andhra Pradesh is now considered not to have a direct land border with Chhattisgarh because that region is generally mapped under Telangana. Therefore the approach is to list the known bordering states and check which given option is missing from that set.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall the states that border Chhattisgarh: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Telangana. Step 2: Compare this list with the options given in the question. Step 3: Odisha appears in the known bordering list, so option B represents a state that shares a border with Chhattisgarh. Step 4: Jharkhand also appears in the bordering list, so option C is a correct bordering state. Step 5: Maharashtra is part of the bordering set to the west, so option D is also a bordering state. Step 6: Andhra Pradesh is not in the standard list of states bordering Chhattisgarh under common exam mapping, so it is the state that does not share a common border.

Verification / Alternative check:
A good way to verify is to visualize the map of central and eastern India. Chhattisgarh lies east of Madhya Pradesh and shares a long frontier with Odisha and Jharkhand. To the southwest is Maharashtra, and to the south and southeast lies Telangana. The region that used to be part of united Andhra Pradesh in older maps has largely been assigned to Telangana in modern political maps. Many exam based explanations explicitly state that Andhra Pradesh no longer has a direct border with Chhattisgarh after the creation of Telangana. Hence, Andhra Pradesh stands out as the non bordering state among the options.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Odisha: Chhattisgarh and Odisha share a significant eastern boundary. Districts from both states touch this border, making Odisha a clear neighbour of Chhattisgarh.
Jharkhand: Jharkhand borders Chhattisgarh in the northeast, so stating that Jharkhand does not share a border would contradict standard political maps.
Maharashtra: Maharashtra lies to the west and southwest of Chhattisgarh. They share a long boundary, especially near Gadchiroli and other districts, so this option is not correct as a non neighbour.

Common Pitfalls:
Many candidates confuse Andhra Pradesh and Telangana due to the relatively recent state bifurcation. Those who rely on old pre bifurcation mental maps may think Andhra Pradesh still shares a border with Chhattisgarh. Another common mistake is to rush and pick a state like Jharkhand or Odisha because they are less familiar, rather than carefully reconstructing the border pattern in central India. Regularly revising updated political maps after state reorganization is essential to avoid such errors in geography questions.

Final Answer:
Among the given options, the state that does not share a common border with Chhattisgarh is Andhra Pradesh, so Andhra Pradesh is the correct answer.