in Rural West Bengal A Study of Seven Villages in Bardhaman Sujit Narayan Chattopadhyay This paper presents the story of political change in a cluster of seven villages in Bardhaman district of West Bengal which illustrates several important themes relevant to the study of possibilities of and limits to the experiments now being attempted in the state's villages. The primary focus is on the significance of this narrative for an understanding of the general historical background to the post-1978 panchayat experiments.