Play store
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah is set to introduce a Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday seeking to change the name of the southern state of Kerala to “Keralam”.
According to the Lok Sabha’s agenda, Shah will introduce the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on March 11 that the central government had formally approved the proposal to rename Kerala as Keralam.
The Kerala Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, calling for the state to be renamed from Kerala to Keralam. The state government subsequently urged the central government to take the necessary steps to amend the name in the First Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
The proposed name, “Keralam”, reflects the name used in Malayalam, the state’s principal language. The state government’s resolution also referred to the formation of Kerala as a Malayalam-speaking state on November 1, 1956.
The resolution recalled the long-standing demand during India’s independence movement for a unified Kerala for Malayalam-speaking people. It urged the central government to initiate the process under Article 3 of the Constitution and replace “Kerala” with “Keralam” in the First Schedule.
Under Article 3, Parliament has the power to create new states and alter the names, boundaries or areas of existing states. However, a Bill seeking to change a state’s name cannot be introduced in either House of Parliament without the President’s recommendation.
If the Bill involves changes to a state’s name, area or boundaries, the President must first refer it to the concerned state legislature for its views. Parliament can proceed with the Bill after the period specified by the President for the state legislature to express its opinion expires.
The state legislature’s opinion, however, is not binding on Parliament.
Supporters of the proposed name change describe it as an effort to correct an anglicised version of the state’s traditional name and formally recognise Kerala’s linguistic and cultural identity.
Critics, however, argue that the move is largely symbolic. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has described the proposal as an “empty symbolic gesture”, arguing that changing the state’s name will not address its economic challenges, debt burden or infrastructure needs.
The proposed legislation is expected to renew the debate over whether the name change represents a meaningful recognition of Kerala’s linguistic identity or is primarily a symbolic exercise.