The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gave its consent to rename Kerala as Keralam, fulfilling a decades-long demand from the southern state that goes to the polls this summer.
After the cabinet’s nod, the President of India will refer a bill, the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the state legislative assembly for expressing its views, a government statement said.
On the receipt of the views of the Kerala assembly, the Union government will seek the recommendation of the President for introduction of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 for alteration of name of state of ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’ in Parliament, the statement added.
“The decision of the Union Cabinet on alteration of the name of Kerala to Keralam reflects the will of the people of the state. It is in line with our efforts to strengthen the connect with our glorious culture,” Modi posted on X.
{{/usCountry}}“The decision of the Union Cabinet on alteration of the name of Kerala to Keralam reflects the will of the people of the state. It is in line with our efforts to strengthen the connect with our glorious culture,” Modi posted on X.
{{/usCountry}}The decision was taken at the first meeting of the Cabinet at Seva Teerth, a new complex that houses the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Communist Party of India (CPI), part of the ruling alliance in the state, welcomed the decision and congratulated the “people of Keralam”.
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The name change comes ahead of the soon-to-be announced assembly polls in the state.
In 2023 and 2024, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had moved resolutions to change the name from “Kerala” to “Keralam” in all languages included in the eighth schedule of the Constitution of the country. The resolution was passed twice by the assembly, after the Union Home Ministry, after reviewing the first resolution, suggested some technical changes.
The resolutions moved by the Government of Kerala sought to alter the name of the state from Kerala to ‘Keralam’ under article 3 of the Constitution of India.
“The name of our State is ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam Language. States were formed on the basis of language on the 1st day of November, 1956. The Kerala Piravi Day is also on the 1st day of November. Since the time of National Independence Struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking Malayalam language. But in the First Schedule to the Constitution the name of our State is recorded as “Kerala’. This Assembly unanimously appeals to the Central Government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name as ‘Keralam’,” the resolutions read.
In 2016 when Gurgaon was renamed Gurugram, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) suggested that the Union government should rename Kerala as ‘Keralam’, Ahmedabad as ‘Amaravati’, Hyderabad as ‘Bhagyanagar’, and Aurangabad as ‘Sambhajinagar’.
Gurgaon’s name was changed to Gurugram as an homage to Guru Dronacharya, a teacher in the epic Mahabharata, who is believed to have been given the land where the city now stands, as a fee by his disciples.
During the Congress led UPA’s tenure in 2006, Orissa was renamed as Odisha and Pondicherry was renamed as Puducherry. Uttarakhand was the new name given to Uttaranchal during the NDA rule in 2007.
During the National Democratic Alliance’s rule in 1996, Bombay was renamed as Mumbai, and in 2014, Bangalore was officially designated as Bengaluru.
The Trinamool Congress in West Bengal too has been pushing the Union government to change the name of the state to Bengal, pointing out that after Partition, there was no rationale in using the prefix West. In 2016 and 2018, the assembly passed a unanimous resolution seeking the change, but the demand has been pending.
“Kerala has been renamed since there is an alliance growing between the BJP and the CPI(M). The alliance is no longer unwritten after today. Why will Bengal always face deprivation? One day, you (BJP) will not be in power. We will get the name changed,” West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjeee said in a statement.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) welcomed the move and said Keralam was historically, linguistically, and culturally known to its people.
“This decision represents the culmination of a longstanding and democratic demand of the people of Kerala, rooted in the state’s linguistic heritage and collective self- respect. The name Keralam is intrinsic to the Malayalam language and reflects the civilisational continuity and cultural identity of the region,” Rajya Sabha member P Sandosh Kumar said.
BJP’s Kerala unit hailed the move, with its chief and former union minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar that “it is our responsibility as the BJP and as every Malayali to reclaim and protect the heritage, history, culture, and traditions of our proud Keralam.”