Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said the renaming of Kerala to ‘Keralam’ did not make any difference, and questioned the centre on why it failed to sanction an AIIMS or a major project for the betterment of the southern state.He also had a “small linguistic question for the Anglophones”. “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…” he said in a post on X.Tharoor also went on to tag the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) of Kerala, and asked for the launch of a “competition for new terms resulting from this electoral zeal”.He highlighted that Kerala already translated to ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam, thus raising questions on the need to rename the state.“It has already been ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam. So now, a Malayalam word is coming into English. I don’t know what difference it makes. The government has not given us an AIIMS or any new institutions. They have given us no projects in the Union Budget. But when it comes to a name change, they are willing to authorize it,” he added.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, 2026CPI(M) leader John Brittas was quick to respond to Tharoor’s post. He said a “gentle glide” from “Kerala” to “Keralam” would not trigger an “identity extinction event”. He emphasized that Malayalees would continue using familiar terms without needing new demonyms.“Please step away from the microbe-mineral anxiety,” wrote the CPI(M) leader in a social media post.He pointed out that people from Andhra were still called Telugu, those from Tamil Nadu were called Tamilian, and Bengalis “shockingly” remained Bengali, adding that no one felt the need to invent new terms or create controversy over such names.“So if Keralam makes you itch to invent new demonyms, feel free to clutch Keralite. The rest of us will continue with Malayalee/Mallu, as we have for decades,” he wrote.“Because identity isn’t a spelling test. It’s what survives when you’re ordering biryani in Delhi and someone yells, ‘Mallu da!’ — with a grin,” he added.Hon. @ShashiTharoor — please step away from the microbe-mineral anxiety.We’ve survived quite happily as Malayalees in polite society and Mallus among friends (and in JNU, where it was equal parts tease and term of endearment). A gentle glide from “Kerala” to “Keralam” is not…— John Brittas (@JohnBrittas) February 25, 2026The union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday formally approved Kerala’s proposal to change its name. In August 2023, the Kerala legislative assembly had passed its first unanimous resolution seeking the name change. Then, in June 2024, it had a second, revised unanimous resolution after the Union Home Ministry suggested technical changes to the initial proposal.Kerala is expected to go to the polls before May to elect 140 members of the state legislative assembly. No official date has been announced by the Election Commission as of now.The state assembly has already passed a resolution to change the name in official records.Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had moved the resolution in 2024, wanted the union government to change the state’s name from “Kerala” to “Keralam” in all languages included in the eighth schedule of the constitution of India. He had said that the demand to form a united Kerala for the Malayalam-speaking communities had emerged since the time of the national freedom struggle.