Volume-XI, Issue-III, May 2025 |
Changing Role of People’s Representatives in Populist Politics: Rural West Bengal Perspective Ms. Bratati Ghosal, Assistant Professor in Political Science, Rabindra Mahavidyalaya, Champadanga, Hooghly, West Bengal, India |
Received: 23.05.2025 | Accepted: 28.05.2025 | Published Online: 31.05.2025 | Page No: 538-554 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.11.issue.03W.050 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
Populist politics changes the dimension of party
politics in rural West Bengal. In any populist regime, the core values of politics are dominated
by the popular manifestation of power, replacing earlier relationships between power
and sanctity, process and priority, pattern and practices. The legitimacy of political
power comes under threat as questions arise about the processes that generate power
and the structures through which it operates. In this context, it is important to
discuss the changing role of people’s representatives in rural West Bengal.
This article examines the influential role
of local political actors in advancing populist goals through rhythmic expressions
of power. It also explores how certain relationship patterns contrast with these
roles, misconstruing the political vocabulary of power. The article highlights the
pattern of acceptability that sustains rule and the range of reliability that stabilises
it. Local politics, shaped by cultural struggles, prepares the backdrop for the
determinism of political power. Thus, redefining the relationship between power
and leadership portfolios is crucial to managing the impacts of political changes.
A comparative
analytical method, along with content analysis, has been adopted.
The key findings are: (i) Local representatives’
activities change when populist goals are accepted by core party members.
(ii) As long as populist goals do not contradict the ideological roles of major political parties in rural Bengal, they are accepted by local representatives. (iii) The power of local leaders depends on the decentralised structure of their party, causing the influence of populist politics to vary from protest to appreciation. Keywords: People’s
representative, Populist power, Popular will, Changing role, Rural politics |