Union Cabinet approves change of name of Kerala to Keralam

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday (February 24, 2026) approved the renaming of the State of “Kerala” to “Keralam”, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced. On June 24, 2024, the Kerala Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to rename the State as “Keralam”.

The move came ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections expected to be held in April-May.

The Kerala Assembly had passed the resolution for the second time because the Ministry of Home Affairs, which reviewed the first resolution, suggested some technical changes.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had moved the resolution, wanted the union government to change the southern State’s name from Kerala to Keralam in all languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Moving the resolution, the Chief Minister had said the State was called ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam and that the demand to form a united Kerala for the Malayalam-speaking communities had strongly emerged since the time of the national freedom struggle.

(With inputs from PTI)