Kerala Renamed As 'Keralam': PM Modi Cabinet Approves Name Change Proposal

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal regarding changing the name of Kerala to 'Keralam', Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced. The decision was taken following the resolution passed by the Assembly ahead of the elections in the state.

Where was the decision taken?

The Union Cabinet took up the agenda to change the name of Kerala to Keralam at its meeting which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This is the first cabinet meeting at the Seva Teerth, which is Prime Minister's new office and Cabinet Secretariat.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that, "Ever since the state was created on the basis of language, there has been a demand that Kerala should be named Keralam. The Cabinet has approved this demand." 

"After approval of the Union Cabinet, the President of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala for expressing its views under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution of India," Vaishnaw said.

Union Cabinet approves the proposal for alteration of name of State of ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’ pic.twitter.com/uVydvy5fFl

— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2026

When was the resolution passed in Assembly?

The development comes after the resolution to rename Kerala was passed recently by the Kerala Assembly, which stated that state has traditionally been called Keralam.

The resolution was passed urging the center to bring in a Constitutional amendment to rename the state as 'Keralam'. 

The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in 2024 and later passed by the Assembly, calling for measures under Article 3 of the Constitution to rename the state to 'Keralam' in the First Schedule.

Pinarayi Vijayan wanted the Union government to rename the southern state in all languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of the country.

On June 25, 2024, the assembly passed the resolution for the second time because the Union Home Ministry, which reviewed the first resolution, suggested some technical changes.

What did Kerala CM say?

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the name 'Keralam' is used in Malayalam and emphasised that the demand for a unified Kerala for Malayalam-speaking communities has been prominent since the national freedom struggle.

"The name of our state is written as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution. This assembly requests the Centre to take immediate steps to amend it as 'Keralam' under Article 3 of the Constitution and have it renamed as 'Keralam' in all the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution," Vijayan said.

Kerala is expected to go to the polls before May to elect 140 members of the state legislative assembly, although no official date has been announced by the Election Commission of India as of yet.