Goel demands Delhi to be respelled as Dilli; Minister assures action on receipt of proposal
Goel to send proposal to Home Ministry
New Delhi, July 24, 2019: Speaking today in the question hour of the ongoing budget session, Rajya Sabha MP and former BJP Delhi President Vijay Goel demanded that the name of the capital city of India should be correctly spelled from Delhi to Dilli. In response to Question number 335 dated July 24, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed that, on the receipt of any such proposal, his ministry would forward it to the department concerned and a decision would be taken on the response received thereto.
Goel said that though the etymology of Delhi is uncertain, popular beliefs point that the name Delhi originated from Raja Dillu, a king of Mauryan Dynasty who named the city after himself who ruled in the first century BC origin. Some historians believe that the name Delhi is derived from the word ‘Dehleej’ as Delhi serves as the gateway to great Indo-Gangetic plains.
Goel said the name of the capital city should have its origin in the city’s culture and history and that the word Delhi does not carry any such character. Many people are anyway confused about the name as some call Delhi, while some say it Dilli. He said that the demands for naming the city as Indraprastha or Hastinapura have been raised up earlier and that at this point of time he does not proposes to name the city so, but he demanded that at least the name Delhi should be correctly spelled in the meantime.
Goel said that it is not the first time that a city or place is renamed to reflect its cultural heritage and historical legacy and that, after independence, notable Indian cities were officially renamed by legislations. A few examples are Cochin which was renamed as Kochi, Gauhati was renamed as Guwahati, Bombay was changed to Mumbai, Indhur changed to Indore, Poona changed to Pune, Benaras was changed to Varanasi, Calcutta was changed to Kolkata. There are also certain names whose spellings were rectified such as Cawnpore became Kanpur, Monghyr became Munger, while Orissa was changed to Odisha.
Goel said that he would reach out to other parties as well discuss the matter of renaming Delhi and thereafter would send a proposal in this regard to Home Ministry.