New Delhi, February 24 Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor offered a witty comment on Kerala's name change on Tuesday, asking what happens to the terms "Keralite" and "Keralan" for the "inhabitants" of the new "Keralam."
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposal to change the name of Kerala to Keralam.
After the Union Cabinet's approval, the President of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala to express its views under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution of India.
After receiving the views of the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala, the Indian government will take further action, and the President's recommendation will be obtained for introducing the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, in Parliament to change Kerala's name to Keralam.
Ahead of the Cabinet decision announcement, Tharoor said, "All for the better, no doubt, but a small linguistic question for us Anglophones: what happens to the terms 'Keralite' and 'Keralan' for the inhabitants 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 enthusiasm," he said, sharing the media report on the name change.
The Legislative Assembly of Kerala passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, to change the name of Kerala to Keralam.
Subsequently, the government of Kerala requested the Indian government to take necessary steps to amend the First Schedule to the Constitution by changing the name of Kerala to Keralam, according to Article 3 of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, on Monday night, Tharoor said he was truly pleased to see C Rajagopalachari honored with a statue at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
"He was the first Indian Governor-General of India, before we became a Republic, and he yielded his seat to the new President. I have long admired his convictions, and I was a strong supporter of his Swatantra Party during my student days," Tharoor said.
"His set of values and principles — liberal economics and support for free enterprise, combined with social justice; a strong connection to Indian civilization and religious faith, but without any communal bias; and a firm belief in the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, including keeping the government out of our kitchens, bedrooms, and libraries — remain mine to this day.
"It is sad that there are so few left to follow him today," Tharoor added on X.