For less than a year with its assembly elections, Tamil Nadu faces a significant moment in search of an upper-medium-income economy. Historically, the state has long opposed national homogeneous forces, which is ready for its unique political and social identity. This trajectory is now being tested by complex economic challenges and a vocal central government. The next year will determine whether Tamil Nadu can maintain its similar development model and preserve its ideological moring between new political realities. The political scenario of Tamil Nadu has long been defined by two separate Dravidian strands. Dravid Munnetra Kazgam Despite the criticism of conservation, DMK’s ideological commitment has been consistent.
In contrast, All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazgam (AIADMK) practiced ‘ancestral populistism’, preferred protection and welfare on ideology. Mg Ramachandran and J. Under the leadership of charismatic figures such as Jayalalithaa, AIADMK united various-DMK forces from traditional upper-caste Congress supporters to zamindar castes and welfare beneficiaries. It also raised Dalits against major intermediate castes in DMK, formed a stable bipolar system, as a permanent opponent of DMK with AIADMK.
This bipolar Dravidian system also ran a competitive populist economic model, promoting protection and corruption. This provided welfare in health, education and services along with comprehensive industrialization. The political extraordinaryness of the state has been important for its economic success, making it a bicon of inclusive development, India’s second largest economy and poverty.
However, the Dravidian models have their own boundaries. Its competitive populism has given impressive quantitative results such as good high school enrollment, comprehensive health care and extensive industrial development, but the quality is often lagged behind. Learning results are of average, employment quality is required to improve and uncontrolled industrial development has reduced the environment. Severe, policies designed for other backward classes (OBCs) may have reinforced caste divisions. Despite the state’s social justice rhetoric, there is constant and deep-sitting casteism with the ongoing discrimination against the stress of Dalits and inter-caste. The Dravidian parties focus on caste-based conversion, while politically successful, is often institutionally institutional instead of caste identity.
BJP’s rise
National climb of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fundamentally disrupted this binary system. Reducing important conceptual traction in Tamil Nadu, the BJP has demanded to make a place for itself by fracturing the traditional base of AIADMK and promoting internal dissatisfaction and many partitions. Ironically: A disorganized AIADMK is now in the alliance with the force that is putting its ideological and electoral space in danger.
This opportunistic alliance now dislikes DMK on ideological alignment. AIADMK synically takes advantage of the central strength of BJP: to convince the DMK government for failures in acquiring central funds or abolish the national eligibility-cum-testing (NEET) -UG despite the Center’s refusal. More worryingly, AIADMK, Edappi. Under the leadership of Palaniswami, a former Chief Minister, has now demanded the use of BJP’s corrosive ideology as a crutch, in his criticism in criticism of the present government, using temple funds to build colleges.
DMK’s strategy in response has been surprising: a strong ideological alliance with Congress, led by Left parties and Dalits Viduthalai chiruthigal kachi (VK) among others. The sociable leadership of Chief Minister MK Stalin has maintained reconciliation, with an ongoing ideological imperative with the alleged threat of BJP dominance. The strong-anti-BJP stance of the alliance, important for harmony, has also put up adverse central policies.
The strength of this alliance lies in its underlying structure of mutual accountability. The Congress ensures a national perspective, while leftist parties ensure awareness about activists and farmers and environmental issues, which are beyond narrow industrial progress. Seriously, VCK’s presence represents a corrective mechanisms for the historical boundaries of DMK – an anchor of coalition for a comprehensive understanding of social justice that extends beyond OBC mobilization, which includes Dalit recognition and uplift – which is seen in efforts of alliance to address caste discrimination and caste hierarchy.
Tamil Nadu’s active civil society leads the state’s ideological basis, a fine secularism champion. Unlike other states, where secularism can be defensive, the Tamil Nadu community often identify their religious identity as well as Tamils, promoting inter-religious bonds. Logic movements, film-makers and writers have created popular support for progressive policies that attack casteism, patriarchy and superstition, while enabling redistributed rule. However, this intellectual and social base now faces its largest test in the form of pieces of political scenario.
Four-out competition, implications
Today, Tamil Nadu faces a new four-corner competition. Economic implications are deep. New charisma-powered forces have emerged. Actor Vijay Tamilga Vatri Kazgam In contrast, film-producer Seaman Name Tamiller Kachi Tamil wants to remove nationalism from its Dravidian core.
This fragmentation threatens to increase the existing boundaries of the Dravidian model. AIADMK-BJP alliance aims to exploit rather than solving the stress of caste. Parties like Patali Makkal Kachi, gathering the identity of specific caste, have formed an alliance with the BJP for narrow identity. These structures provide less towards solutions for environmental decline, gender discrimination or improvement in education and employment quality – otherwise due to anxiety in the developing state.
The progressive structure of the DMK alliance provides a better situation for economic changes. Its emphasis on secular results and social amity creates the essential governance capability for such infection. It is aid by the internal mobility of the alliance. This structure provides the best structure to develop beyond the boundaries of the Dravidian model, supporting the social benefits required for economic progress, despite the contradictions.
New fragmented political scenario can also affect the state’s economic trajectory. The new battle inherent in casteism or communalism can endanger its ambitions. Social conflict contacts that the pit against the community propagates the community and the medieval communal values.
As the state progresses in an upper-medium-or-year economy, it should avoid moderate-income nets, transfer to an innovative, high-value manufacturing model. This requires a variety in exports in research and development, digital literacy, and export products and services-all more and more state demands facilities and fiscal autonomy.
The state contributed 11.9% to India’s manufacturing GDP and is the highest number of factory at the national level. Its manufacturing sector increased by 8.33% between 2021-22 and 2023-24. Nevertheless, a significant obstacle is the growing fiscal centralization and federal anti -policies of the Central Government. The Center’s extensive fiscal policies increase the financial autonomy of Tamil Nadu, even the state shows the economic vitality with the state’s goods and service tax (SGST) collection, which is increasing from 20.12% to ₹ 35,414.05 crore in H1 2024-25, decreasing the minimum financing. There is more information about the development fund for opposition-intensive states as political pressure.
Regional resistance to national relevance
These challenges highlight a comprehensive strategic imperative for the ruling alliance of Tamil Nadu. To maintain your specific model, there is a need to move beyond regionalism towards active alliance-building. As a state alone cannot effectively challenge central fiscal policies, coordinated opposition may create national pressure. Facing a hostile center, the DMK -led coalition should think beyond regional boundaries, raised opinions among other opposition ruled states on shared concerns: delimitation, a couple of language policy and greater fiscal decentralization.
Editorial | Reducing federalism: Central funding, states and education
To achieve its objectives within Tamil Nadu for alliance, its national partners – especially Congress And left – a favorable discourse on federalism, social justice and secularism should be actively promoted at the national level. The political battle in Tamil Nadu is thus not only about maintaining power. They are about preserving a separate model of governance and development that has given tangible progress. Tamil Nadu, betting for Indian federalism and its various ethos may not be high.
srinivasan.vr@thehindu.co.in
Published – July 12, 2025 12:16 AM IST
