Union Cabinet approves renaming Kerala as 'Keralam'

The decision comes months ahead of the Assembly election in the southern State

New Delhi: Kerala will soon be ‘Keralam’, with the Union government on Tuesday setting in motion the process of renaming the State.

The decision, which comes months ahead of the Assembly election, was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the first at the new Prime Minister's Office ‘Seva Teerth’.

Earlier, Puducherry, Uttarakhand and Odisha had seen their names changed from Pondicherry, Uttaranchal and Orissa, respectively. Besides, several cities and towns like Chennai, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Prayagraj have seen their names changed.

While Kerala's proposal has been accepted, West Bengal's demand for changing the State's name to ‘Bangla’ in Bengali, ‘Bengal’ in English and ‘Bangali’ in Hindi, which was raised in 2018, has not been accepted by the Union government as it was opposed to having three names in different languages.

The Union Cabinet's decision came following a resolution passed by the Kerala Assembly on June 24, 2024, which said, "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 appeal to the Central government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name as 'Keralam'," the resolution had said.

With the Union Cabinet approving the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, the President will refer it to the Kerala Assembly for expressing its views under Article 3 of the Constitution.

"After receipt of the views of the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala, the Government of India will take further action and the recommendation of the President will be obtained for introduction of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, for alteration of name of State of Kerala as ‘Keralam’ in Parliament," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

Home Minister Amit Shah said on X that the decision is a "significant step towards fulfilling the long-standing demand" of the people of the state and the name ‘Keralam’ will "manifest the state's heritage with all its authenticity and uphold its pride."

According to Article 3, Parliament may by law alter the name of any State but no Bill shall be introduced in Parliament except on the recommendation of the President. It also mandates that the Bill be referred by the President to the State Assembly for expressing its views within a specified time as the President may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired.

An official statement said the matter was considered in the Ministry of Home Affairs and with the approval of Home Minister Amit Shah, a draft 'Note for the Cabinet' was circulated to the Department of Legal Affairs and Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law and Justice for their comments.

The Department of Legal Affairs and the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, have concurred with the proposal for the alteration of name of State of Kerala as ‘Keralam’, it said.