The Kerala Legislative Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Union government to officially change the state's name to ‘Keralam’. While presenting the resolution in the Assembly on Wednesday, August 9, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan pointed out that the state’s name is Keralam in the Malayalam language. He presented the contents of the resolution under Rule 118 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), led by the Congress party, did not raise any objections or seek changes in the resolution.
“States were formed based on language on November 1, 1956. Kerala Day is also on November 1. The need to unite Kerala for the Malayalam-speaking communities has been strongly evident since the time of the national freedom struggle. However, the name of our state is listed as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution. This Assembly unanimously requests the Union Government to take immediate steps to amend it to 'Keralam' under Article 3 of the Constitution,” the resolution read.
“The House also requests that our state be renamed as 'Keralam' in all the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution,” the resolution added.
The Constitution of India gives the Parliament power to alter the name of a state under Article 3, which lays down a procedure to alter the area, boundaries, or name of a state.