Amid ongoing disputes with the Centre over the three-language policy and delimitation, Tamil Nadu has replaced the rupee symbol in promotional material for the 2025 state budget with a Tamil symbol.
On Thursday, the state government swapped out the rupee symbol (₹) for the Tamil letter ‘Ru’ in posters promoting the upcoming 2025-26 budget, which will be presented on Friday. The change was noticed after Chief Minister MK Stalin shared the new logo on social media platform X. In contrast, promotional materials for last year’s budget prominently featured the rupee symbol.
The decision comes amid the ruling DMK’s long-standing opposition to the ‘imposition’ of Hindi through the three-language formula in the National Education Policy (NEP). While there has been no official statement from the Tamil Nadu government regarding the symbol change, DMK leader Saravanan Annadurai defended the move. Speaking to a news outlet, he stated, “There is nothing illegal about it… this is not a ‘showdown’. We prioritise Tamil, and that is why the government went ahead with this.”
BJP Slams the Move
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, has strongly criticized the decision. The party’s Tamil Nadu spokesperson, Narayanan Thirupathy, accused the DMK of trying to project itself as being separate from India and claimed the move was an attempt to divert attention from governance failures.
BJP state chief K Annamalai, who is leading a door-to-door campaign advocating the three-language policy, also lashed out at the DMK government, calling Chief Minister MK Stalin “stupid” for the decision.
The controversy adds to the growing political tensions between the Tamil Nadu government and the BJP-led Centre, especially regarding language policies and federal matters.
