‘How stupid’: Annamalai slams Stalin govt over move on Rupee symbol
TN BJP chief says the Rupee symbol was, in fact, designed by a Tamilian and the son of a former DMK MLA
The Tamil Nadu government’s decision to replace the Indian rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in its logo for the state budget, has drawn the ire of the Opposition BJP with party’s state chief Annamalai dubbing it a “stupid” move.
The budget for 2025-26 is scheduled to be tabled by Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu in the state Assembly on Friday (March 14). The logo for the budget, released by the government on Thursday (March 13) carried 'ru', the first letter of the Tamil word 'Rubaai' which denotes the Indian currency in the vernacular language.
The logo also had the caption "everything for all," indicating what the ruling DMK claims is its inclusive model of governance.
Also read: TN govt replaces rupee symbol with Tamil letter in budget logo amid row with Centre
‘How stupid can you become?’
Slamming the move, Annamalai hinted at the irony of replacing the rupee symbol which was designed not just by a Tamilian by the son of a former DMK MLA.
"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 said in a social media post.
"Thiru Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA. How stupid can you become, Thiru @mkstalin?" he added.
The state BJP chief also shared the logo of the 2024-25 Tamil Nadu budget that had the Indian rupee symbol.
Why change it now? asks Tamilisai
Senior BJP leader and former state unit chief Tamilisai Soundararajan also slammed the DMK.
"We feel very sorry for the attitude of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (Stalin) and the Tamil Nadu government," she told PTI.
Also read: TN: Annamalai cites Sundar Pichai example to bat for Centre's three-language policy
It was "stupidity" like Annamalai mentioned, she said, while demanding to know why the change has been effected after so long and if they have "become Tamil now."
"They are against national integrity, national unity," she charged while slamming the DMK.
No law stops us, says DMK
Responding to the backlash from BJP leaders over the switch, the DMK wondered if there was any rule that barred such a depiction.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said no law "opposed or stopped using Ru in Tamil." "Then why such anger," he asked in a post on X.
Language row
The development comes amidst the language row between the Centre and Tamil Nadu.
The ruling DMK and other major politics parties in the state, barring the BJP have been alleging Hindi imposition by the Union government, a charge denied by the latter.
The DMK has argued that the Centre wants to 'impose' the north Indian language on Tamil Nadu through the implementation of the three-language formula in the National Education Policy (NEP).
Also read: TN BJP chief Annamalai backs Pradhan, flays CM Stalin amid NEP controversy
The government has said it will not follow the three-language formula but only stick to its decades-old two-language policy of Tamil and English.
According to the government portal "knowindia.gov.in," the rupee symbol is an amalgam of Devanagari "Ra" and the Roman Capital "R" with two parallel horizontal stripes running at the top representing the national flag and also the "equal to" sign.