The proposal of renaming the cities was mooted 9 years ago by Govt. of Karnataka but for political reasons, UPA Govt. had shelved it in cold storage. NDA Govt. waited till the Maharashtra Assembly polls concluded as it had an apprehension that it would lose votes at least in the neighboring villages of Karnataka.
CM of Karnataka Mr. Siddaramaiah spoke to Mr. Rajnath Singh, Home Minister and suggested to take a decision to rename the cities in Karnataka. It may be remembered that U R Ananthamurthy, Jnapith awardee had suggested to the then CM of Karnataka, Mr. Dharam Singh to rename Bangalore as Bengaluru to mark the Survarna celebrations. Later, demand came from other cities also. The UPA-I Govt. cleared the new names with a rider that Belgaum should be renamed as Belgavi. The other cities which have been renamed are: Mysore- Mysuru, Gulbarga-Kalaburagi, Mangalore-Mangaluru, Chikmagalur—Chikkamagaluru, Hubli—Hubballi, Shimoga-Shivamogga, Bellary—Ballari, Bijapur—Vijapura or Vijayapura, Hospet—Hosapete, Tumkur—Tumakuru.