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India: Kerala assembly passes official resolution to rename ‘God’s own country’ as Keralam

Before Kerala, the West Bengal government in eastern India had also requested the Union government to change the state's name to 'Bangla'

Published: Wed 9 Aug 2023, 7:24 PM

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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan addresses the Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. State cabinet minister K. Radhakrishnan is also seen. — PTI

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan addresses the Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. State cabinet minister K. Radhakrishnan is also seen. — PTI

The southern Indian state of Kerala may soon be known by a different name. The state assembly on Wednesday unanimously voted for a resolution to change the name of Kerala to Keralam.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan moved the resolution, which faced no objection from the United Democratic Front (UDF), the Congress-led opposition, according to media reports.

Tabling the resolution, the chief minister said the state was referred to as 'Keralam' in Malayalam language but was still called Kerala in other languages. “This assembly unanimously requests the Union Government to take immediate steps to amend it as 'Keralam' under Article 3 of the Constitution of India and it is renamed as 'Keralam' in all the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Article 3 of the Indian Constitution deals with the formation of new states and changes in either names or boundaries of existing ones.

Speaker AN Shamseer declared the resolution as unanimously adopted based on the show of hands.

Before Kerala, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government in eastern India had also requested the Union government to rename the state as 'Bangla'.

What happens next?

In India, states can change the names of cities and towns after taking approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, changing a state's name requires a nod from the Indian Parliament. It remains to be seen how soon the matter is discussed in the Parliament, which is currently in its monsoon session.

In the last few years, Kerala — also known as 'Gods's own country' — has gone back to the original names of several towns and cities, including the capital Trivandrum. The city was earlier called Thiruvananthapuram. Similarly, Cochin has reverted to Kochi, Quilon to Kollam and Trichur to Thrissur.

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