The Kerala Assembly unanimously passed a second resolution on Monday urging the Centre to officially change the state’s name to ‘Keralam’, nearly a year after a similar resolution was unanimously passed and then returned by the Centre for corrections. The resolution will now be forwarded to the Union government for approval. Last year, the Union Home Ministry reviewed the previous resolution and suggested technical changes after the Kerala government requested swift action to rename the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan proposed the resolution, emphasizing that ‘Keralam’ is the Malayalam name for the state and has strong historical and linguistic significance dating back to the national freedom struggle. He urged the Centre to amend the state’s name from ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’ under Article 3 of the Constitution and ensure consistency across all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.
Both ruling LDF and opposition UDF members supported the resolution, with Speaker A N Shamseer announcing its unanimous adoption after rejecting proposed amendments. This move echoes previous name changes across India, such as Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand and Orissa to Odisha, reflecting evolving cultural and linguistic identities.
