Congress MP Shashi Tharoor added a question to a major constitutional development after the Union Cabinet is set to reportedly clear a proposal to rename Kerala as “Keralam”. Reacting on X, Tharoor raised a light-hearted yet pointed linguistic query about what residents of the state would now be called in English.
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.”
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…
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 24, 2026
His remark quickly gained traction online, with users joining in to suggest alternatives and debate the finer points of English demonyms.
Cabinet Clears Rename Proposal: Sources
The reported approval follows two resolutions passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly urging the Centre to amend the Constitution so that the state’s name appears in its Malayalam form across all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan first introduced the resolution in 2024, arguing that “Keralam” better represents the state’s linguistic and cultural heritage. He also noted that the aspiration for a unified Kerala for Malayalam-speaking people dates back to the freedom movement.
After the Union Home Ministry recommended technical revisions, the Assembly passed the proposal again in June 2024 and forwarded it to the Centre.
First Cabinet Meet At Seva Teerth
The reported nod came during the first Union Cabinet meeting held at Seva Teerth, the newly inaugurated complex housing the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Secretariat under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
If formalised through a constitutional amendment under Article 3, the change would update the First Schedule of the Constitution to reflect “Keralam” as the state’s official name in all recognised languages.
With broad political backing already visible within the state, the conversation has now shifted from legislative consensus to linguistic curiosity. Tharoor’s tongue-in-cheek comment highlights how even serious constitutional changes can spark cultural and grammatical debates.
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