AIADMK, BJP members boycott TN assembly after rupee symbol change
What's the story
The Tamil Nadu Assembly's budget session was disrupted after the opposition AIADMK staged a walkout and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) boycotted proceedings. AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of Opposition, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) accused the ruling DMK government of being involved in a liquor scam of over ₹1,000 crore. He called for their resignation on moral grounds, citing lack of transparency.
Logo dispute
BJP boycotts Assembly over logo controversy
BJP leader and Coimbatore MLA, Vanathi Srinivasan, justified their session boycott due to the Tamil Nadu government's replacing of the Devanagari rupee symbol from the state budget logo. She said the replacement with a Tamil symbol was a deliberate undermining of constitutional principles. The controversy began when CM MK Stalin replaced India's official rupee symbol (₹) with "Roo" (ruu) meaning 'rupee' in Tamil.
Backlash
Opposition condemns CM Stalin's logo change
CM Stalin launched the new logo with the Tamil symbol and the slogan "Ellarkum Ellam" (Everything for Everyone), on March 13. The move, however, drew the ire of opposition leaders and Union Ministers who accused the DMK government of linguistic and regional chauvinism. BJP floor leader Nainar Nagendran, too, condemned the move saying it disrespected national integrity and came amid financial irregularities in state-sponsored liquor corporation TASMAC.
No-confidence motion
AIADMK demands resignation, cites ignored no-confidence motion
Palaniswami also alleged their no-confidence motion against the Speaker was ignored and not discussed. Speaking outside the assembly, he said, "The ED has said there has been a TASMAC corruption of more than ₹1,000 crore. The investigation is ongoing. It is possible that there has been over ₹40,000 crore of corruption in TASMAC."