Union Cabinet approves renaming Kerala as ‘Keralam’

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Feb 24, 2026: The Union government on Tuesday initiated the process to rename Kerala as ‘Keralam’, with the Union Cabinet approving the proposal months ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — the first held at the newly inaugurated Prime Minister’s Office, ‘Seva Teerth’.

Kerala’s move follows similar name changes in other states and cities over the years. Puducherry was renamed from Pondicherry, Uttarakhand from Uttaranchal, and Odisha from Orissa. Cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Prayagraj have also undergone name changes.

While the Centre has cleared Kerala’s proposal, it has not accepted West Bengal’s 2018 request to rename the state as ‘Bangla’ in Bengali, ‘Bengal’ in English and ‘Bangali’ in Hindi, citing objections to having different names in different languages.

The Cabinet’s decision comes after a resolution passed by the Kerala Assembly on June 24, 2024. The resolution stated that the state’s name in Malayalam is ‘Keralam’ and noted that states were reorganised on linguistic lines on November 1, 1956 — observed as Kerala Piravi Day. It urged the Centre to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution under Article 3 to officially change the name from ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’.

With the approval of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, the President will now refer the proposal to the Kerala Assembly to seek its views as mandated under Article 3 of the Constitution.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that after receiving the Assembly’s views, the government will proceed further and seek the President’s recommendation to introduce the Bill in Parliament.

Under Article 3, Parliament can alter the name of a state by law, but such a Bill can be introduced only on the President’s recommendation. The Article also requires the Bill to be referred to the concerned State Assembly for its views within a specified timeframe.

An official statement said the proposal was examined by the Ministry of Home Affairs and, with the approval of Home Minister Amit Shah, a draft Cabinet note was circulated to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The Department of Legal Affairs and the Legislative Department have concurred with the proposal to rename Kerala as ‘Keralam’, it added.