India, March 31 -- Tamil Nadu is one of India's most industrialised states. Its industrialisation prowess looks even more impressive when seen against the fact that much of it was achieved in the post-reform period unlike some traditional industrial success stories located on India's western coast. Among the biggest reasons for Tamil Nadu's success in harnessing India's post-liberalisation tailwinds for industrial growth has been a bipartisan consensus among the state's two regional parties - the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) - to prioritise the state's industrial growth in terms of policy continuity. Another factor, often underappreciated by market voices, has been the social egalitarianism the state achieved thanks to its early investments in social justice through reservations and social reform. These two factors have often been described as a form of Dravidian exceptionalism in India's overall political economy landscape. There is definitely a lesson to be learnt here for all Indian states. However, this is not the only defining characteristic of the much-celebrated Dravidian model. What is equally entrenched in the state's political economy is a bipartisan consensus on political populism. Governments led by both the DMK and the AIADMK have been promising populist benefits to voters, especially women, in the state for a long time now. This was much before the trend started in other Indian states. Some of these benefits have become entrenched in what can be described as the political-industrial complex in the state, where the state's populist benefits provide a captive market to politically connected industries. The DMK's latest promise of a Rs.8,000 "coupon" to buy home gadgets needs to be seen as a continuation of this tradition. Taken together with other economic palliatives, the policy has left a fiscal hangover for the state. This is best seen in the state's debt-GSDP ratio, which, to give credit where it is due, has come down under the current government but continues to be on the higher side among Indian states (26.1% in the 2026-27 Budget). For a state that is now in demographic decline, a high debt-GSDP ratio will only add to the burden on the working population (and state finances) in the future. Why can't Tamil Nadu have a bipartisan consensus on this fiscal vice like its industrial policy? Is it lack of political prudence or a deeper malaise that suggests the fruits of Tamil Nadu's much celebrated growth continue to be unequal or a desire by local parties to compete with the national hegemon whose political success has been built on equal parts welfarism and Hindutva? Everyone, not just Tamil Nadu, needs to introspect....