The Central government has given permission for the renaming of 12 cities of Karnataka. Only the renaming of Belgaum to Belagavi is withheld.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that the government had received a letter from the Centre asking it to go ahead with renaming the cities, with the exception of Belgaum. The conflict on the border between Karnataka and Maharashtra possibly resulted in withholding the Belgaum name change.
The proposal to rename Bangalore to Bengaluru first came up in December 2005 at a meeting of litterateurs on celebrations of the state golden jubilee, Suvarna Karnataka.
The Karnataka government then sent a list of 12 names in 2006, after which clearance from various departments including the Survey of India, Science and Technology, Post and Telegraph, and Railways was received. On November 1, 2006, the chief minister announced the renaming of the cities.
The following are the changed names of the cities:
Bangalore: Bengaluru
Mysore: Mysuru
Mangalore: Mangaluru
Hubli: Hubballi
Shimoga: Shivamogga
Chikmagalur: Chikkamagaluru
Bellary: Ballary
Bijapur: Vijapura
Hospet: Hosapete
Tumkur: Tumakuru
Kaup: Kapu
Gulbarga: Kalaburgi
