The state government is on a new move to change the name of the state Kerala to Keralam in other languages and official documents. UDF supported the resolution that followed this. The Left government had been making this demand since 2010 but could not succeed in it.

The chief minister said in the assembly yesterday that our state is known as Keralam but in other languages it is known as Kerala. The amendment can be implemented only if the bill is passed by the Parliament with the approval of the central government. There have been various incidents like this before.

The last official name change of the state was in Odisha in 2011. With the same demand West Bengal had also approached the central government. It was not successful. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had presented a resolution to change the name of West Bengal to Paschim Banga or Bengal or Bangla. The central government had ignored Mamata's demand about four times.

Why not easy
The amendment can be implemented only if the bill introduced in the assembly is passed by the parliament. Above all, a political decision will be crucial.