Guwahati, Feb. 27: Nowgong became Nagaon long ago, Gauhati became Guwahati under the erstwhile Hiteswar Saikia regime and, more recently, Sibsagar became Sivasagar. Today, Assam became Asom, removing a British-era mismatch between the spelling and the local pronunciation of the name.

The Tarun Gogoi cabinet?s decision to ?rename? Assam, however, caught everyone by surprise, though most welcomed the change. Rival political parties were the exception, insinuating that the Congress government took the decision now because Assembly elections were round the corner.

The influential All Assam Students? Union (AASU) declined to comment until it saw the government notification.

Government spokesperson Himanta Biswa Sarma broke the news to the media, saying that the cabinet decision was based on suggestions from several quarters, including former Asam Sahitya Sabha president Chandra Prasad Saikia. ?The government has decided to revert back to the name used by the local people. ?Assam? was the corrupt version of ?Asom?, left behind by the British. We have effected the change in deference to local sentiments.?

The minister said all procedural formalities will be completed to ensure that the state is henceforth referred to as Asom.

B.K. Gohain, commissioner of the political department, clarified that the Assembly?s approval was not necessary for the change to take effect. He said the general administration department would issue the notification soon.

Assembly secretary G.P. Das confirmed that the House?s consent was not mandatory for the name of a place to be changed. ?We do not have any role to play. Even when the spelling of Gauhati was changed to Guwahati in 1983, the decision was taken by the erstwhile Hiteswar Saikia cabinet,? he said.

Saikia had brought the issue to the fore through an article in a magazine, where he urged the government to ensure that the indigenous name replaced ?Assam? everywhere. He said the word ?Asom? stood for ?the unmatched? and contended that using Assam in its place was against the ethos and spirit of Assamese nationalism.

Scholars believe the state?s indigenous name came from the Ahom dynasty, which ruled the state for six centuries, beginning 1228.