NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to rename ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’, aligning with a popular and long-standing demand of people in the state. PM Modi said Tuesday’s decision “reflects the will of the people of the state”. The state govt had earlier made two requests to Centre to change the name.Announcing the decision, I&B minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that after Cabinet approval, the President will refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the Kerala legislative assembly for expressing its views under Article 3 of the Constitution. An official release said that after receiving the state assembly’s views, Centre will take action and obtain the President’s recommendation for introduction of the Bill in Parliament.In 2011, the spelling of Orissa was changed to Odisha.People aware of the development said the cabinet note highlighted how, from the beginning, people of Kerala had been vociferously demanding that the state be named Keralam. However, when it was officially created on Nov 1, 1956, it was named Kerala. Since then, the demand has been raised repeatedly.Earlier, the state assembly had passed resolutions in 2023 and 2024 requesting Centre to amend the Constitution and modify the state’s name from Kerala to Keralam. The resolutions were moved by CM Pinarayi Vijayan, and only last month state BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar had written to the CM extending his party’s support.The Cabinet proposal included the June 2024 resolution passed by the state assembly, which mentioned the name of the state in Malayalam is Keralam and that states were reorganised on linguistic lines on Nov 1, 1956, observed as Kerala Piravi (Kerala Formation Day). “Since the time of the national independence struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for Malayalam-speaking people. But in the First Schedule to the Constitution, the name of our state is recorded as Kerala. This Assembly appeals to central govt to take urgent steps under Article 3 to modify the name as ‘Keralam’,” the resolution stated.Vaishnaw dismissed speculation linking the decision to upcoming elections in the state. “Decisions are taken by the cabinet without keeping elections in view,” he added.
