Even as the Union Cabinet on Tuesday started the process for renaming Kerala as Keralam, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has already been using the name on the poll body’s website.The Kerala Chief Electoral Officer website welcomes its users with the message “Welcome Chief Electoral Officer Keralam”. The Kerala Government’s official website, however, still uses ‘Kerala’ as the state’s name.Officially, the name Keralam cannot be used until the proposal is cleared following due procedure. The Centre will send the state renaming Bill to the President, who will refer it to the Kerala Assembly.The Bill will then return to Parliament for passage. The President’s assent will be sought next and the change in name will be recorded in the First and the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution.


