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Rajya Sabha passes bill to rename Kerala as ‘Keralam’
The bill seeks to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution to change the name of the southern state to “Keralam”
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 by voice vote amid the din to rename the southern state as ‘Keralam’, completing the parliamentary process for the change. The Lok Sabha passed the bill without discussion on Tuesday.
“The name of a state is not merely about changing its name, or simply changing the name of a geographical area to ‘Keralam’. It certainly is that as well, but in the Malayalam language, ‘Keralam’ represents the culture, civilisation and emotions of Kerala. Therefore, making ‘Keralam’ the name of Kerala is a matter of pride, honour and self-respect for all of us, for all Indians,” said minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai, who piloted the legislation on behalf of Union home minister Amit Shah.
The bill seeks to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution to change the name of the southern state to “Keralam”.
Deep Dive
The move follows a resolution passed by the Kerala assembly in 2024, which noted that “since the time of the country’s independence struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking the Malayalam language,” and that the state legislature had “unanimously appealed to the Central government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name as Keralam.”
Opposition MPs demanded that Shah pilot the bill in the House since the list of business mentioned his name but the government rejected the demand. “The minister of state Nityanand Rai is here and he is piloting the bill and that is very much within the parliamentary democracy that is being followed here,” said senior minister JP Nadda.
The Opposition has been demanding that Amit Shah make a statement on the July 20 police action against student protesters at Jantar Mantar.
Sasmit Patra, who was in the chair at the time, asked MPs to confine themselves to the general principles of the Bill in their speeches and avoid “irrelevant points and repetition of arguments”.
”These guidelines are provided under Rules 110, 124 and 240 of the Rules of Procedure. Anything said in violation of the Rules shall not form part of the records, and you don’t have to repeat it again and again,” he said.
