Tamil Nadu has substituted the rupee symbol (Re) with a Tamil letter (Ru) in the advertisements for the 2025/26 state budget, to be tabled on Friday morning. This has set off a major political controversy, mainly between the ruling DMK and the BJP central government.

Chief Minister MK Stalin published the new logo on X, bringing out the change, which is set against the background of Hindi imposition controversy on the issue of the national language, and specifically on the three-language requirement of the new National Education Policy (NEP). The DMK opposition to Hindi imposition has been a long-standing controversial topic, with the Tamil Nadu government refusing Tamil in its place instead of the imposition of Hindi.

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There has been no official word from the Tamil Nadu administration regarding the substitution, but DMK chief Saravanan Annadurai spoke up in defense of the move, saying, “There is nothing illegal about it. this is not a ‘showdown’. We give importance to Tamil. that is why the government went ahead with this.”

The BJP, however, criticized the move strongly. Narayanan Thirupathy, a state unit spokesperson of the BJP, accused the DMK of attempting to dissociate from the country and divert attention from its failures. The state unit president of BJP, K Annamalai, described the decision as “stupid” and pointed out that the rupee symbol has been designed by the son of former MLA of the DMK at one time.

The move also comes against the backdrop of an ongoing “language war” between the DMK and the BJP, particularly with regard to the NEP. Tamil Nadu has been resisting the policy on the grounds of its existing two-language system, and the BJP said that the NEP would help students outside the state. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan alleged that the DMK was spreading a “false narrative” regarding the policy.

In addition, the row has been further kindled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments that the BJP government has contributed more to Tamil speakers than the DMK, alluding to the inclusion of regional languages in Central Armed Police Force entrance examinations.

The argument also broaches the larger subject of political battles as Tamil Nadu gears up for its state polls next year when the DMK and AIADMK will confront each other while the BJP will attempt to cut into the state.