Tamil Nadu Govt Drops Official Rupee Symbol In State Budget, Draws BJP Fire In Big Language War

Last Updated:March 13, 2025, 14:43 IST

This marks the first time a state has rejected the national currency symbol, taking its resistance to the NEP to a new level.

Tamil Nadu replaces the official rupee symbol With the Tamil symbol in the state budget. (Source: News18)

In a strong stand against Education Policy (NEP), M K Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government on Thursday replaced the official rupee symbol (₹) with a Tamil symbol in the state’s 202-26 Budget, which will be tabled on Friday morning.

This marks the first time a state has rejected the national currency symbol, taking its resistance to the NEP to a new level.

Speaking to CNN News 18 about the latest move, DMK leader Saravanan Annadurai said, “We have put the Tamil word for Rupees. This is not a showdown, there is nothing illegal about it. We will prioritise Tamil, that is why the government went ahead with this."

“I just asked them to promote Tamil properly. Tamil Nadu is continuously performing well in the education sector – People are not migrating to North India from here, they are going to the US and the UK. BJP is not able to digest this," he added.

Speaking about the person who designed the symbol, Annadurai said, “The country should be proud that someone from Tamil Nadu has designed this. This is not about who has designed that or not. This is about promoting Tamil, no law prevents us from using this."

He said that the person who designed it is a Tamilian and it is “because of the Tamilians we are achieving greater things."

As per the ministry, the logo change is only on the state budget paper and not on currency.

BJP Calls DMK’s Move Of Dropping Rupee From Budget ‘Stupid’

Meanwhile, BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan said to CNN News 18, “They are using this only for their politics. I am not against using the Tamil word. This is just a political drama. Why are they not making their children study in government schools? BJP is also proud of Tamil but DMK cannot be the custodian of Tamil language."

Speaking to CNN-News18, Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai called this a stupid move of Stalin.

She said that the person who designed the symbol is Thiru Udhay Kumar, he is the son of a DMK MLA.

“DMK government wants to push the language war. I am not like these pseudo-fake Tamils, I love Tamil language and Tamil Nadu. What authority do they have to be the only custodian of Tamil," Annamalai said.

Taking to X, 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 ?"

BJP leader Amit Malviya also slammed the move and wrote on X, “Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam is an Indian academic and designer, son of a former DMK MLA, who designed the Indian rupee (₹) sign, which was accepted by Bharat. Chief Minister MK Stalin is insulting Tamilians by dropping the ₹ sign from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 document. Just how ridiculous can one get?"

Meanwhile, BJP leader Narayanan Thirupathy said that DMK will go to any extent to mislead the people.

“It shows that DMK will go to any extent to hide their defeat and mislead the people. This is not a childish act. It is funny to remove the symbol of the rupee note and get angry," said Thirupathy on X.

Sharing a teaser of the state budget on X, Chief Minister Stalin wrote, “To ensure the widespread development of Tamil Nadu to benefit all sections of society…"

Tamil Nadu Vs Centre In Language War

This comes in the wake of a huge language war ongoing between the Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government and the Centre.

DMK has accused the Centre of imposing the Hindi language in the state through the three-language formula as proposed in the new Education Policy.

The Tamil Nadu government did not issue any formal notice regarding the swapping of currency symbols.

News politics Tamil Nadu Govt Drops Official Rupee Symbol In State Budget, Draws BJP Fire In Big Language War