Not all sunshine and roses for CM Stalin's four-year Dravidian Model regime

CHENNAI: As Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin enters the fifth and final year of his maiden tenure as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, his Dravidian Model government, a term now synonymous with Stalin or the DMK, can be characterised by a plethora of positives and overcoming a few challenges.

During the eventful four years, Stalin’s Dravidian model has ridden high on the success of a rainbow of populist schemes, enviable GSDP growth rate, massive influx of industrial investment and stupendous legal victories against the Union and its appointee Governor, resistance to Delhi’s power centralisation attempts, successful crusade for social justice and not to mention successive electoral triumphs. Indeed, the reigning DMK has had its fair share of blemishes too.

Returning to power after a 10-year gap during the peak of the COVID wave (17.08 lakh cases during the second wave in March–November 21) and a period of political instability, Stalin began with a bang, inking his first signature for the Vidiyal Payanam (free town bus travel for women). After successfully combating the deadly COVID pandemic scare, his Dravidian model followed it up with the implementation of pioneering schemes, Chief Minister’s Breakfast scheme, Naan Mudhalvann, Pudhumai Penn, Illam Thedi Maruthuvam and the flagship Kalaignar Mahalir Urimai Thogai scheme (Rs 1,000 monthly honorarium scheme for women) one by one, leaving his imprint.

Simultaneously, he set his eyes on growth targets. Taking over from a negligent 0.07% GSDP growth rate in 2020-21 against the backdrop of Covid wave, the regime took the state’s GSDP growth rate to a peak 9.69% in 2024-25, highest for any state in the country, and doubled the state’s merchandise export value from US $ 26.15 billion to US $ 52.07 billion, and wooed Rs 10 lakh crore private investment during the same period.

That he managed to achieve the numbers while overcoming a ‘hostile’ union government was a feat in itself. While scaling new heights administratively in the realm of education, industrial growth, health and job creation, the Dravidian model scripted a new history through its legal victories as well.

From safeguarding 27% reservation for OBCs in the All India Quota to the release of AG Perarivalan in 2023 and most recently the historic Supreme Court verdict setting time frame for governor’s and the President to act on Bills passed by state legislatures, the DMK regime emerged as the crusader for social justice and a bulwark against the Union government’s infringement of state rights.

A chronicle of the Dravidian model tenure would be incomplete without a mention of the bravado it displayed in the TN Legislative Assembly. Twice, it resolved to take on record only the official government speech and not the truncated one uttered by Governor RN Ravi in the House.

Equally, the Dravidian Model’s daring defiance of the Union government or rather resistance to its trilingual policy, which contributed to repeated face-offs with Union ministers in the Parliament, earned it the reputation of the guardian of state rights and autonomy.

The benefits of its resistance were evident in the massive victories it achieved in almost all elections since 2019 under the banner Secular Progressive Alliance or now the famous INDIA bloc.

That said, it has not been all sunshine and roses for the Dravidian model regime. It was an occasional roller coaster of a ride for Stalin's Dravidian Model on the administrative front. In terms of perception, the government suffered substantively due to odd blemishes, for which Stalin’s cabinet colleagues contributed as generously as the inadequate government machinery incapable of negating anti-incumbency. The wounds of Vengaivayal Dalit discrimination and the Samsung workers' strike, both of which were made a talking point across the political spectrum in the state.

On equal level was the challenges from court verdicts against cabinet colleagues, V Senthilbalaji, K Ponmudy, Duraimurugan and I Periasamy.

Among other things , some of the sensational crime cases provided fodder for the opposition parties. As an effective strategy to silence the critics and instil discipline among party cadre, the Chief Minister removed Ponmudy. In the case of Senthilbalaji, the minister voluntarily resigned.

Considering the pace at which alliance formations are unfolding, fulfilling some of his pending poll promises might not be a bad start. In the same breath, the DMK might do well to keep in good humour some of its sulking allies, mainly the VCK, which audibly voiced its frustration more than once in recent times.