The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has backed the Left Democratic Front government’s proposal to officially rename the state as Keralam and has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in to complete the process.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar wrote separate letters to the Prime Minister and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, making it clear that the party supports the move despite not having a single member in the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Chandrasekhar said the state Assembly has already passed a resolution seeking to change the name from Kerala to Keralam in official records. He said the BJP’s ideology focuses on protecting language, culture and tradition, and described Keralam as a name rooted in thousands of years of history.
“Our party has always viewed the state as Keralam, a name that reflects the deep cultural and linguistic heritage of the Malayalam speaking people,” he wrote.
Chandrasekhar also argued that the name change could help counter what he described as divisive demands raised by radical elements. “A Keralam deeply rooted in its history and working for a bright and prosperous future for all Malayalees will blunt the efforts of those who seek to fragment the state by raising demands for separate districts on religious lines,” he said.
He added that the BJP hopes the renaming will encourage all political parties to work together for a developed and safe Keralam where the faith and traditions of people from all religions are protected and respected. “We respectfully request your intervention to ensure that our state is officially named by its Malayalam rooted name, Keralam,” Chandrasekhar told the Prime Minister.
In a similar letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the BJP leader reiterated his support and said the party stands with the state government in preserving the identity and cultural heritage of Keralam.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution in August 2024 urging the Centre to officially rename the state as Keralam. The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Vijayan, who said that while the state is called Keralam in Malayalam, it continues to be referred to as Kerala in other languages.
While presenting the resolution, the Chief Minister had said the idea of a united Kerala for Malayalam speaking people gained strength during the freedom struggle and that the official name should reflect the state’s linguistic identity in all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
