The Karnataka government decided to rename the Hyderabad-Karnataka region as Kalyana Karnataka on Friday. 

The change in name was confirmed by the state Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy while briefing reporters after a cabinet meeting. "All government records will see the name Hyderabad Karnataka changed to Kalyana Karnataka,” Madhuwswamy said. 

The name change was approved by the cabinet on Friday after demands from 41 legislators from the region to get rid of the colonial-era name, which they believe is associated with the erstwhile Nizams of Hyderabad. The name change will happen in all government records and the term Hyderabad-Karnataka will be replaced with Kalyana-Karnataka, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy told the media on Friday. 

The Hyderabad-Karnataka region comprises Bidar, Ballari, Kalburgi, Raichur, Koppal and Yadgir. It enjoys special status under the Indian Constitution (Article 371 J). A special board called the Hyderabad Karnataka Region Development Board was constituted for the upliftment of the region. The board will now be called the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board. The chairman of the board is one of the district-ministers-in-charge in the region. People from the region also benefit from reservation in jobs and colleges. 

The name was changed after all 41 MLAs in the region petitioned the government about changing the name. “There are 41 legislators from the region and all of us had petitioned the government to formally rename the region. We had done the same to the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government and it has now been accepted,” Sedam BJP legislator Rajkumar Patil said at the briefing.

Before Independence, this region was under the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad. "We got our Independence on September 17 1948, one year and one month after India got its independence. We are pleased that the region was renamed before September 17", Rajkumar Patil added. 

Image courtesy: AreJay, Wikimedia Commons