Tamil Nadu changes rupee symbol in budget logo amid language row

Tamil Nadu: In a political move that has created a lot of controversy, the Tamil Nadu government has replaced the Devanagari rupee symbol with Tamil letters in its 2025-26 state budget logo. The move comes after a long-running linguistic battle between the Centre and the state, with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) claiming its right to use the Tamil language in official documents.

The new logo launched by the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday has ‘ru’ – the first consonant of the Tamil alphabet “rubai” – written on the Indian currency in the local language. With this symbolic change, the tag line “Sab Kuchh Sabke Liye” has been added, symbolising the state’s model of inclusive governance, which is said to ensure equality and access for all citizens, claimed by the DMK.

The move has nevertheless been strongly criticised by the opposition, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the forefront. Tamil Nadu BJP leader K. Annamalai spoke out against it, calling it “foolish” and raising doubts over the decision-making ability of the chief minister. He also reminded people that the Devanagari rupee symbol, designed by Tamil Udaya Kumar and adopted by the entire country in 2010, was an important symbol of India’s currency. Annamalai posted on social media, “How stupid can you be, Thiru @mkstalin?” criticising Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for the change.

Former BJP state unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan also criticised the DMK’s move and accused the state government of compromising national unity. She asked why the symbol was changed after so many years, claiming that the ruling party seemed to be ignoring national integrity.

DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai defended the party, saying there was no law against the use of “ru” in Tamil and questioned why there was so much uproar over a mere symbolic change. He also said that the Tamil Nadu government’s action does not violate any legal or constitutional norms.

The Centre-Tamil Nadu language dispute has been a major source of controversy over the past few years. The DMK and other major political parties in the state have been strong in their opposition to the three-language formula suggested under the National Education Policy (NEP), which they believe aims to impose Hindi in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has strongly opposed the implementation of the three-language formula, opting instead to maintain its long-standing two-language policy of Tamil and English.

The rupee symbol adopted by the Government of India in 2010 is a combination of the Devanagari “Ra” and the Roman capital “R”, with two parallel horizontal bars at the top that symbolize the national flag and the “equals” sign.

With the budget to be presented on Friday, the controversy over the logo has fuelled the ongoing debate around linguistic identity and national integration in the state, heating up the political war between the DMK and the BJP.