Contesting Power, Crafting Authority: Longitudinal Study of Four Panchayat Elections in North India

Based on longitudinal research across four panchayat elections in central Uttar Pradesh (UP), this article examines how panchayat elections shape rural politics. It attempts to address three questions: What role do panchayat elections play in rural politics? What strategies and tactics are deployed to mobilize voters? How do elected representatives consolidate their influence over electorates after elections? The findings reveal an interplay of continuity and change. Panchayat elections have become increasingly integrated with regional and state politics and are marked by intense competition, rising campaign expenditures and a new brand of contestants focused towards liquidity, bureaucratic access and political brokerage. Electoral participation demands financial capital, organizational acumen and calculated alliance building for candidates seeking upward political mobility. For affluent contestants, electoral participation provides an opportunity to consolidate influence and manipulate power for their own needs. Marginalized candidates assert their rights and challenge hierarchies of caste and power. Despite this transformation, caste, kinship and factional loyalties remain deeply embedded in the social architecture of electoral politics in UP, structuring mobilization and governance.