Team News Riveting
New Delhi, March 13
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday castigated the Tamil Nadu government led by M K Stalin for replacing the rupee symbol with the Tamil letter (Ru).
Hitting back at Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK, she said the move “promotes secessionist sentiments under the pretence of regional pride ” and is a “completely avoidable example of language and regional chauvinism”. She also questioned why the DMK had not made its reservations known earlier.
The state had replaced the Devnagari rupee symbol (Re) in promotional material for the state budget that will be presented Friday morning, making a point amid the blazing row over what it calls “imposition of Hindi” Result — since morning, the party has drawn massive political backlash from the BJP. State BJP chief K Annamalai, pointing out that rupee symbol accepted by the nation has been drawn dram by the son of a former DMK MLA, tagged the state’s ruling party “stupid”.
In the evening, the finance minister weighed in with a lengthy post on X. Accusing the DMK of “utterly disregarding the creative contribution of a Tamil youth”, 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. 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”.
“If the DMK has a problem with ‘₹’, why didn’t it protest back in 2010 when it was officially adopted under the @INCIndia-led UPA government, at a time when the DMK was part of the ruling alliance at the Centre? 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?” her post read.
