The Tamil Nadu government has replaced the rupee symbol (₹) with the Tamil letter ரூ ‘Ru’ in promotional material for the 2025–26 state budget, set to be presented on Friday. The move has sparked a fresh political controversy, with the BJP accusing the ruling DMK of separatism and attempting to divert attention from governance failures.
The change was noticed after Chief Minister MK Stalin shared the new budget logo on social media platform X. Posters for last year’s budget included the rupee symbol, but no formal notice has been issued by the state government regarding the switch.
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1900102735577702525
Rupee Symbol Was Designed By DMK Member’s Son
The BJP, however, sees the change as a deliberate attempt to distance Tamil Nadu from the rest of India. State BJP chief K Annamalai launched a scathing attack on CM Stalin. On his X handle, Annamalai wrote, “The DMK Government’s State Budget for 2025-26 replaces the Rupee Symbol designed by a Tamilian, which was adopted by the whole of Bharat and incorporated into our Currency. Thiru Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA. How stupid can you become, Thiru @mkstalin?”
https://twitter.com/annamalai_k/status/1900103792299041115
https://twitter.com/nvramankumar/status/1900105059406667890
In another post, Annamalai wrote, “TN State Planning Commission’s executive vice chairperson says the ₹ symbol was dropped because it was based on the Devanagari script. TN CM Thiru @mkstalin has surrounded himself with such nincompoops. Mere advertisements and meaningless decisions to hide incompetence: summary of the last four years of DMK. What the father endorsed; the son rejects.”
TN State Planning Commission’s executive vice chairperson says the ₹ symbol was dropped because it was based on the Devanagari script.
TN CM Thiru @mkstalin has surrounded himself with such nincompoops. Mere advertisements and meaningless decisions to hide incompetence:… pic.twitter.com/50ajWjim96
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) March 13, 2025
The controversy comes as Tamil Nadu gears up for a crucial election next year, where the DMK and AIADMK are expected to engage in a fierce battle, with the BJP looking to expand its influence in the state.
The symbol swap also plays into the larger political narrative surrounding the ongoing language dispute between the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the BJP-led central government.
NEP 2020: The Core Of The Clash
At the heart of the dispute is the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which mandates a three-language formula for school students. The DMK has strongly opposed this, insisting that Tamil Nadu’s two-language policy (Tamil and English) has worked well for decades.
CM Stalin has accused the Centre of using NEP to impose Hindi, branding it a “saffronisation policy” that will “destroy the Tamil Nadu education system”.
The BJP, however, argues that the three-language formula will help students by equipping them with an additional Indian language. The party has dismissed Tamil Nadu’s objections as politically motivated.
(With inputs from NDTV)
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