Bangalore: The Karnataka Government has decided to rename its border city Belgaum as Belagavi on November 1, the Karnataka reorganisation day. The proposal has been pending before the Central government for years. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has once again requested Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to give Centre's consent for the renaming at the earliest.
The decision to rename many major cities and towns in Karnataka was taken on November 1, 2006, the 50th year of the state reorganisation. Even the state capital, Bangalore, was renamed as Bengaluru.
However, the Centre is yet to give a formal approval for renaming of these cities.
Belgaum, which is on the Karnataka and Maharashtra border, is a disputed city and Maharashtra claims that it should be a part it. Before 1956, Belgaum was a part of the Bombay Presidency created by the British. Before that, Belgaum was a part of the Vijayanagara kingdom and the Mysore kingdom.
Half the population speaks Marathi and remaining half speaks Kannada in Belgaum. The Karnataka government has built a Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum to reassert its claim over the city.
The decision to rename Belgaum has been opposed by the pro-Marathi organisations and the Maharashtra government. It is a fact that Belgaum has always been called Belagavi in Kannada and Belgaum in Marathi and English.
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