Panchayat elections and democratic decentralisation in West Bengal

Abstract

The panchayat election of 2008 signalled the decline of the Left Front hegemony, which never failed in getting a clear and often substantial majority in the State Assembly and Panchayat elections since 1977. This field-research based study of the panchayat election of 2008 poses the question: how democratic is decentralisation of Panchayati Raj in West Bengal? The landmark 73rd Constitutional Amendment of 1992 gave wide scope to states to democratize and empower the Panchayati Raj institutions in the country following the federal principle. The chapter argues that the panchayat system was indeed institutionalised by the CPM-led Left Front, but not democratized. Panchayat and Assembly elections before and after 2008 demonstrate that the democratisation process even after regime change with TMC firmly in power has a long way to go.