Chennai: Amid the ongoing language row between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and the central government, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin dropped the official rupee symbol with the Tamil letter for ‘ru’ from ‘rubai’ (rupees in Tamil) for the state budget 2025-26.
Stalin shared on X a teaser for the state budget. It will be presented on March 14 in the state assembly. “To ensure the widespread development of Tamil Nadu to benefit all sections of society…,” he wrote on X. He share the post with hashtags ‘Dravidian Model’ and ‘TNBudget2025.’ The logo for the budget was missing the official Rupee symbol, which is inspired by the Hindi alphabet for ‘R’.
சமூகத்தின் அனைத்துத் தரப்பினரும் பயன்பெறும் வகையில் தமிழ்நாட்டின் பரவலான வளர்ச்சியை உறுதி செய்திட…#DravidianModel #TNBudget2025 pic.twitter.com/83ZBFUdKZC
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) March 13, 2025
In the previous two budgets, the state had used the original rupee symbol. It has happened for the first time that the state rejected the national currency symbol. This comes amid the Tamil Nadu government’s resistance against NEP and the three-language formula.
However, DMK spokesperson A Saravanan said it was not the state rejecting the official rupee symbol. The spokesperson claimed that it was an attempt to promote the Tamil language.
BJP state president K Annamalai blasted Chief Minister Stalin for the decision. “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,” he wrote on X.
He also highlighted that the original symbol was designed by Udhay Kumar, who is the son of a former DMK MLA. Referring to this, Annamalai asked, “How stupid can you become Mr MK Stalin?”
