'Keralamite sounds like microbe': Shashi Tharoor quips after Centre approves renaming Kerala to Keralam

Shashi Tharoor

• Union Cabinet approves renaming Kerala to Keralam
• Shashi Tharoor questions what residents will be called in English
• Kerala Assembly had urged Centre to use Malayalam name officially

Did our AI summary help?

Moments after the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved renaming Kerala to Keralam, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor questioned the move stating 'What happens to Keralite now' and questioned what residents of the state will be called in English.

“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”?, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said in a post on social media platform X.

“Keralamite” sounds like a microbe and “Keralamian” like a rare earth mineral…!" he continued on X, tagging Kerala CMO, and adding that “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

Tharoor's remarks came after the Kerala Legislative Assembly passed a resolution twice urging the Centre to amend the Constitution so that the state's name is reflected in its Malayalam form across all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.

Earlier in the day, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Narendra Modi, cleared the Kerala government’s proposal to officially rename the state as ‘Keralam’. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting held at Seva Teerth, the newly inaugurated Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Secretariat complex.

Commenting on the move, state BJP president Rajeev Chandrashekhar highlighted that the new name will be suitable because “we are going to be a state that is going to restore and protect our traditions and culture and also build a forward-looking state economy”. "It is clear that every Malayali wants change and wants to set aside politics of lies and fake promises and bring in politics of performance....," he said, news agency ANI reported.

The state legislative assembly had earlier passed a resolution urging the central government to officially recognise the name Keralam in all languages. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who tabled the resolution, highlighted the importance of aligning the state’s name with its local language and historical roots.