RAS question
Under which Article of the Indian Constitution can Parliament alter the name of a state?
Correct answer: (B) Article 3.
Parliament can alter the name of a state under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution.
Explanation
Article 3 is the specific constitutional provision for changing the map and names of states. It empowers Parliament by law to form new states and to alter the area, boundaries, or name of any state. The same article also builds in a process safeguard: a Bill for this purpose cannot be introduced in Parliament unless the President recommends it, and where the proposal affects a state’s area, boundaries, or name, the President refers the Bill to that State Legislature for its views. That is why the Kerala renaming proposal follows the Article 3 route: after the Union Cabinet approved renaming Kerala as Keralam, the President would refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the State Legislature.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Article 1 describes India as a Union of States and sets out what the territory of India comprises; it does not confer the power to alter a state’s name.
- (C) Article 368 deals with Parliament’s constituent power to amend the Constitution and the procedure for such amendments, whereas the specific power to alter a state’s name is placed in Article 3.
- (D) Article 248 concerns Parliament’s residuary legislative power over matters not in the Concurrent List or State List, not the alteration of state names.
Concept
This tests Part I of the Constitution, especially Parliament’s power over the Union and its territory. It recurs in RAS because state reorganisation, boundary changes, and renaming proposals often appear in current-affairs-linked polity questions.