Union Cabinet Approves Renaming of Kerala to ‘Keralam’
The move, ahead of 2026 elections, now awaits Constitutional amendment and Parliamentary approval under Article 3
Feb 24, 2026 - The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday (February 24) approved a proposal to rename the Indian state of Kerala to “Keralam”, aligning with the Malayalam pronunciation and cultural identity. This was announced by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The name change agenda was taken up in the first meeting of the Cabinet at the PM’s new office Seva Teerth.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly had on June 24, 2024, passed unanimous resolutions urging the Central Government to amend the Constitution to officially change the name from Kerala to Keralam.
The move comes just months before the Kerala Assembly elections expected before May 2026, making it politically significant. Even though the Cabinet has approved the proposal, the name change still requires Constitutional amendment and Parliamentary approval under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution before it becomes fully official.
The name change brought out a tongue-in-cheek comment from Congress leader from Kerala, Shashi Tharoor who wrote on his X platform: "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."
With Media Inputs
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