Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday slammed the Tamil Nadu government's move to replace the rupee symbol.
Sitaramn said that the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government's move to replace the rupee symbol signals a dangerous mindset that weakens Indian unity and promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride.
The Finance minister in a X post said, “If the DMK has a problem with ‘ ₹’, why didn’t it protest back in 2010 when it was officially adopted under the UPA government, at a time when the DMK was part of the ruling alliance at the Centre?. Ironically, ‘ ₹’ was designed by D Udaya Kumar, the son of former DMK MLA N. Dharmalingam. By erasing it now, the DMK is not only rejecting a national symbol but also utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth."
The attack comes on the day when DMK government has reportedly removed the official Rupee symbol '₹' from the Tamil Nadu Budget 2025-26 documents, which will be presented on Friday.
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.
Continuing her attack, the finance minister said,"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."
All elected representatives and authorities are sworn under the Constitution to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of our nation, she said, adding removing a national symbol from the State Budget documents goes against that very oath, weakening the commitment to national unity.
"Rupee symbol is internationally well-recognized and serves as a visible identity of India in global financial transactions. At a time when India is pushing for cross-border payments using UPI, should we really be undermining our own national currency symbol?" she asked.