'Secessionist sentiments': FM Sitharaman slams DMK over ₹ symbol change

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed Tamil Nadu's move to replace the rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in the 2025-26 state Budget logo, calling it a threat to national unity

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday (March 13) criticised the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government for altering the rupee symbol in its state budget logo. The newly-unveiled logo featured 'Ru', the first letters of the Tamil word Rubaai, which represents the Indian currency in the regional language.

 

FM Sitharaman took to X expressing her concerns, she said, "All elected representatives and authorities are sworn under the Constitution to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of our nation. Removing a national symbol like '₹' from the State Budget documents goes against that very oath, weakening the commitment to national unity." 

The DMK government has reportedly removed the official Rupee symbol ‘₹’ from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 documents, which will be presented tomorrow.  If the DMK (@arivalayam) has a problem with ‘₹’, why didn’t it protest back in 2010 when it was officially adopted under the…

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 13, 2025

  She added, "This is more than mere symbolism, it signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride. A completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism." 

The whole issue began when the DMK government replaced the rupee symbol (Re) in a promotional document for the upcoming state budget 2025-26 which is to be presented on Friday (March 14) morning. On the decision of using "ரூ"  symbol instead of nationally adopted symbol "₹", CM MK Stalin said that the state government wants to promote and save Tamil language.

 

 

Interestingly, the nationally adopted symbol was given by D Udaya Kumar, who believes that this symbol is inspired and based on National Flag. Incidentally, D Udaya Kumar's father N Dhamalingam had been MLA from DMK. 

 

Well within rights: DMK

Meanwhile, defending its decision, the ruling DMK asserted that using Tamil in the budget logo was well within its rights and that no rule prohibits such a change. The party maintained that there was nothing wrong with incorporating the native language. Notably, Tamil Nadu's Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu is set to present the 2025-26 budget in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday. 

 

 

However, the move drew sharp criticism from the opposition AIADMK and BJP, with both parties accusing the DMK government of trying to divert public attention from more pressing issues. BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai also condemned the decision. 

Significantly, the Centre and the Tamil Nadu governments have disagreements over NEP as well. The state government has earlier denied to enforce the three-language policy in the state as mentioned under NEP.