Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had a witty take on Kerala's name change on Tuesday (February 24, 2026), asking what happens now to the terms "Keralite" and "Keralan" for the "denizens" of the new "Keralam".
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal for altering the name of Kerala to Keralam.
After approval of the Union Cabinet, the President of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala for expressing its views under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution of India.
After receipt of the views of the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala, the government of India will take further action and the recommendation of the president will be obtained for the introduction of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 for alteration of Kerala as Keralam in Parliament.
Ahead of the Cabinet decision announcement, Mr. Tharoor said, "All to the good, no doubt, but a small linguistic question for the Anglophones among us: what happens now to the terms 'Keralite' and 'Keralan' for the denizens of the new 'Keralam'? "'Keralamite' sounds like a microbe and 'Keralamian' like a rare earth mineral…! @CMOKerala might want to launch a competition for new terms resulting from this electoral zeal," he said, sharing the media report on the name change.
