In a country where the Hindutva right wing has held not just an ascendant but a hegemonic position across States, Tamil Nadu remains one of the striking exceptions. It is probably the only State where the BJP is a marginal player despite a favourable religious demographic that has helped its politics elsewhere. This owes much to the political idiom of social justice and Tamil identity that has limited political competition to the two Dravidian parties for decades, with national forces reduced to junior partners. The Dravidian-dominated party system has been sustained due to these parties’ capability to combine welfare with development, even as competitive welfarism has entrenched caste-based patronage networks and corruption that drives political variables. As he seeks re-election for the DMK, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will bank on the idea that his party’s “Dravidian Model” has been beneficial. In the last five years, Tamil Nadu has managed impressive GSDP growth rates — the country’s highest (11.19%) among major States in 2024-25 — and become an industrial powerhouse. The DMK will also seek to capitalise on the popularity of its welfare measures, especially the cash transfer to poor women scheme. Yet, beneath this macro picture lie issues that the Opposition will harp on: corruption at various levels of governance has fuelled discontent beyond sections that have not benefited from welfare.