New Delhi

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday offered a characteristically witty reaction to the Centre’s move to rename Kerala as “Keralam,” wondering what would now become of commonly used English terms such as “Keralite” and “Keralan.”

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a proposal to alter the state’s name from Kerala to Keralam.

Following the Cabinet’s approval, the President of India will refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for its views, in accordance with the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution. After receiving the Assembly’s opinion, the Union government will seek the President’s recommendation to introduce the Bill in Parliament.

Reacting ahead of the official announcement, Tharoor raised a linguistic poser for English speakers. “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’?” he asked in a post on X.

“‘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 added, while sharing a media report on the proposed name change.

The Government of Kerala had earlier moved in this direction when the state assembly passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, seeking to alter the name of Kerala to Keralam. Subsequently, the state government requested the Centre to initiate steps to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution under Article 3.

Meanwhile, Tharoor also welcomed the installation of a statue of C Rajagopalachari at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Rajagopalachari was the first and only Indian Governor-General of independent India, serving before the country became a republic.

“I have long admired his convictions and was a strong supporter of his Swatantra Party in my student days,” Tharoor said, praising Rajagopalachari’s commitment to liberal economics, social justice, constitutional freedoms and his rejection of communal bigotry.

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“His set of values and principles remain mine to this day. It is sad that there are so few left to follow him today,” Tharoor added in another post on X.