Historic Move: Kerala Assembly Unanimously Approves 'Keralam' Name Change
The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) unanimously endorsed the President's reference on the proposal to officially rename the State from Kerala to 'Keralam'. The House considered the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, which was referred by the President to seek its opinion. Legislators unanimously approved all queries raised by the President on the Bill's 10 clauses, including its title and provisions.
With no objections from any member, the Assembly recorded its unanimous consent on each point as read out by Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. Describing it as a 'historic moment', the Speaker noted that this was the first time a Presidential reference had been sent to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for its opinion.
The Bill, which received Union Cabinet approval in February 2026, will now be introduced in Parliament. Once passed by both Houses and notified, the State's official name will change from Kerala to Keralam.
This development follows a unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala Assembly on June 24, 2024, seeking the name change. That resolution, introduced by then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, emphasised that the State's name in Malayalam is 'Keralam' and that the official name should reflect its linguistic and cultural identity.
The resolution noted that States were reorganised on linguistic lines on November 1, 1956, and that Kerala Piravi is observed on the same date. It also recalled that the demand for a united Malayalam-speaking State had been a longstanding aspiration dating back to the Independence movement. Pointing out that the First Schedule of the Constitution records the State's name as 'Kerala', the Assembly had urged the Union government to adopt steps under Article 3 of the Constitution to officially rename the State as 'Keralam'.
The process now moves to Parliament, where the Bill will be debated and voted upon. If passed, Kerala will join a list of states that have altered their names to reflect regional languages and identities.
