Reacting to the development, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor quipped about the linguistic implications of the change, wondering what residents of the state would be called.
“All to the good, no doubt, but a small linguistic question for the Anglophones among us: what happens now to the terms ‘Keralite’ and ‘Keralan’ for the denizens of the new ‘Keralam’? ‘Keralamite’ sounds like a microbe and ‘Keralamian’ like a rare earth mineral…! @CMOKerala might want to launch a competition for new terms resulting from this electoral zeal,” Tharoor wrote in a post on X.
Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier today said that following the Union Cabinet’s approval, the President of India will refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for its views, as required under Article 3 of the Constitution.
After receiving the Assembly’s views, the central government will seek the President’s recommendation to introduce the Bill in Parliament to formally change the state’s name to ‘Keralam’, according to an official release.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly had earlier passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, unanimously urging the Centre to amend the Constitution to reflect the name ‘Keralam’. “The name of our state is ‘Keralam’ in the Malayalam language. States were formed on the basis of language on November 1, 1956, and Kerala Piravi Day is also observed on the same date. Since the national independence struggle, there has been a strong demand for a united Kerala for Malayalam speakers. However, in the First Schedule to the Constitution, the state’s name is recorded as ‘Kerala’. This Assembly unanimously appeals to the Central Government to take urgent steps under Article 3 to change the name to ‘Keralam’,” the resolution stated.
Article 3 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to alter the name of any state. However, such a Bill can be introduced only on the President’s recommendation and after the proposal is referred to the concerned state legislature for its views.
The Ministry of Home Affairs examined the proposal, and with the approval of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the draft Cabinet note was circulated to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The Department of Legal Affairs and the Legislative Department have concurred with the proposal to rename Kerala as ‘Keralam’.
