This book describes and examines the social background of the Panchayati Raj leaders in West Bengal. Based on field studies in the district of Hugli, this work takes into account the background of all the office-bearer leaders of all the three tiers of the Panchayati organisation, with reference to two different base years. In the process, comprehensive profiles emerge, inter-tier variations are explored, and changes over the years are noted. Inter-party commonalities and differences are also scrutinised. A leadership study is an inquiry into a given political culture, with its prejudices and priorities. In the pre-reservation era, the prejudices were uninhibited and unfettered. With its focus on those free passions, the present work throws light on the strengths and weaknesses of the local society. The author continually refers to the findings of her predecessors in the field, both in West Bengal and in other states, for leading the reader toward a comparative and cross-cultural perspective. But what is more important and interesting is that she also invokes history and relates her study to the story of the evolution of the Bengal society. Today’s political sociology finds its moorings in yesterday’s history, and the work becomes inter-disciplinary.
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