Precedents
State Renaming Under Article 3
Multiple Indian states have been renamed through the Article 3 procedure since Independence. Each renaming reflects linguistic, cultural, or political identity assertions by the people of the state.
- Madras → Tamil Nadu (1969): renamed through the Madras State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1968, reflecting Tamil cultural identity.
- Mysore → Karnataka (1973): renamed through the Mysore State (Alteration of Name) Act, 1973, asserting the Kannada identity of the region.
- Orissa → Odisha (2011): renamed through the Orissa (Alteration of Name) Act, 2011 — both the state name and the name of the Odia language were affected.
- Uttaranchal → Uttarakhand (2006): renamed reflecting the regional identity of the hill state.
- Pondicherry → Puducherry (2006): renamed to reflect the original Tamil name of the Union Territory.
- The States Reorganisation Act, 1956, reorganised states on linguistic lines following the Fazl Ali Commission (States Reorganisation Commission, 1953-55) — this forms the foundational context for all subsequent identity-based renaming.
● Tracked since February 24, 2026 · last seen September 14, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
See it in today’s brief.
Daily current affairs with every static concept explained in place.
Read the daily brief