Tamil Nadu Budget speech fuels DMK-BJP clash over language policy: ‘Centre cheated us…’

Amid ongoing tensions with the Centre over language policies, the Tamil Nadu government has substituted the Devanagari rupee symbol with a Tamil character in its 2025-26 budget logo

During his Budget speech in the Assembly, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Dr Palanivel Thiagarajan addressed the ongoing debate surrounding the National Education Policy’s three-language formula. Citing the language conflict between the DMK and BJP, he reiterated the DMK’s opposition to the imposition of Hindi.

Thiagarajan claimed that the BJP-led central government has "cheated" the state of Rs 2,150 crore allocated for the Samagra Shiksha scheme, CNN-News18 reported. He further alleged that the Centre is making the release of these funds conditional on the state withdrawing its objections to the National Education Policy (NEP).

Defending the state's two-language policy, the Finance Minister asserted that it has been a driving force behind the worldwide achievements of Tamil people. He also underlined its significant role in Tamil Nadu’s growth and development.

The two-language policy “has taken us to greater heights… Tamils achieve globally because of this,” he was quoted as saying by CNN-News18.

Tamil Nadu govt replaces Rupee symbol in state budget logo

Amid ongoing tensions with the Centre over language policies, the Tamil Nadu government has substituted the Devanagari rupee symbol with a Tamil character in its 2025-26 budget logo.

The logo for the Budget, released by the government on Thursday, 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 governance model.

While the move drew the ire of the BJP, the ruling DMK wondered if any rule barred such a depiction.

Slamming the Stalin government's move, BJP TN chief K Annamalai asked the chief minister how stupid he could be to do it.

"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." "Thiru Udhay Kumar, who designed the symbol, is the son of a former DMK MLA. How stupid can you become, Thiru @mkstalin?" he said in a social media post.