By IANS
Bangalore : The central government has said no to Karnataka’s proposal to rename Belgaum as Belagavi, apparently bowing to opposition from neighbouring Maharashtra.
Maharashtra still stakes claim to Belgaum city and part of Belgaum district as a large number of people there speak Marathi.
Recently, Karnataka sought the centre’s approval to change the spelling of 12 places in the state, including Bangalore, to conform to the way the names are pronounced in Kannada, the language of the state.
Belgaum was to become Belagavi, as the place is called in Kannada while Bangalore will be spelled as Bengaluru.
The state’s home minister M.P. Prakash said here Tuesday that the state government was unhappy that the central government had not approved the change for Belgaum.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters in the northern district of Gulbarga Monday that the central government had not given any reason for not approving the change.
With New Delhi approving the new spelling of the 11 places, the state will soon issue notification effecting the changes, an official spokesman said Tuesday.