Tamil Nadu’s DMK-led government has replaced the traditional Indian rupee symbol (₹) with a Tamil symbol ‘ரூ’ in promotional materials for its 2025-26 state budget, unveiled on Thursday.

This move is widely interpreted as a symbolic assertion of linguistic identity amid an escalating clash with the BJP-led central government over the alleged imposition of Hindi through the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The NEP’s three-language formula, advocating the study of a regional language, Hindi, and English, has sparked outrage in Tamil Nadu, which has adhered to a two-language policy (Tamil and English) since the 1960s. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has fiercely opposed the policy, dubbing it a “saffron agenda” to enforce Hindi, and alleging that the Centre is withholding Rs 2,152 crore in Samagra Shiksha funds to coerce compliance.

The DMK views the NEP as an assault on Tamil Nadu’s autonomy and linguistic heritage, a stance rooted in decades of resistance to Hindi, dating back to the anti-Hindi agitations of 1937-40 and 1965.

The budget logo change follows heightened tensions, with DMK cadres recently blackening Hindi signboards and Stalin challenging the BJP to make Hindi imposition a 2026 election issue.

BJP state chief K. Annamalai, defending the NEP, insists it offers flexibility and denies any mandatory Hindi push, accusing the DMK of politicizing education. Meanwhile, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged Tamil Nadu to adopt the NEP, framing its resistance as a barrier to student opportunities.