New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram | BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday criticised LDF and UDF MPs for being absent from Parliament during the passage of the Bill to rename Kerala as Keralam, calling it a long-pending demand of the people.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Chandrasekhar said the BJP was "very proud" that the demand had moved towards becoming law so quickly after the party had raised it with Prime Minister Narendra Modi some time ago.
"We had given a request to PM Modi for changing the name. We never expected that it would become law so quickly," he said.
Chandrasekhar said common people and literary figures in Kerala were happy and celebrating the passage of the "historic" Bill.
"It is a milestone in the history of Kerala, and we are very much proud to be a part of that," he said.
He said there was no politics involved in the Bill and alleged that Congress and CPI(M) MPs showed no interest in supporting it despite the name change being a long-pending demand of the people of Kerala.
"When Parliament passed this Bill yesterday, there were no LDF or UDF MPs in the House as they had already boycotted it," he said.
Chandrasekhar alleged that the two fronts had, in the past, come together to pass resolutions linked to PDP leader Abdul Nasar Maadani and against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, but failed to unite on an issue concerning the state.
"If you examine the history of these two political fronts, you will understand that whenever issues concerning the development of the state come up for discussion in Parliament, they will not support them," he alleged.
He accused the Congress and CPI(M)-headed fronts of supporting student agitations in Delhi while ignoring the problems faced by Public Service Commission job aspirants in Kerala.
"It is a Bill which everyone should have come together to pass. I expected the UDF, LDF and NDA to pass it together. But yesterday, they continued with their old power politics," Chandrasekhar alleged.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP C Sadanandan Master and senior leader P K Krishnadas were also present at the press conference.
Parliament on Wednesday passed the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, with the Rajya Sabha clearing the legislation through a voice vote, a day after the Lok Sabha passed it. The Bill seeks to change the name of the state from Kerala to Keralam.
The Kerala Assembly had passed a resolution in 2024 urging the Centre to bring legislation to change the state's name to Keralam.
Subsequently, the President referred a Bill to the state legislature for its views, following which the Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution agreeing with it.
The Bill provides for amendments to the First Schedule of the Constitution to change the name of the state from Kerala to Keralam.
The proposed change will take effect after the Bill receives the President's assent.
