India, March 14 -- Tamil Nadu on Thursday replaced the rupee symbol ( Rs.) with a Tamil letter (translated as Ru) for the logo of the state budget 2025-26, a symbolic move that triggered a political storm and ratcheted up the already simmering tensions between the state and the Centre over language.

State finance minister Thangam Thennarasu is scheduled to table the budget on Friday. The state government had used the rupee symbol in last year's budget.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government released a 24-second video to announce the budget, which had a logo where the rupee symbol was replaced by the Tamil alphabet with a tagline "Ellorkkum Ellaam" (everything for everyone). "This budget is for all sections of the society," chief...