Panchayat Elections Sharat Kumar ELECTIONS are an occasion when existing class and caste differences and mutual rivalries get intensified. As such it is important to see the extent of the influence the new element of reservation for the backwards has exerted on the recent panchayat elections in Bihar. We present here a case study of the Khagaria block in Monghyr district in northern Bihar. The Khagaria subdivision to which this block belongs is surrounded by three major rivers: the Ganga in the south, the Kosi in the west and the Burhi Gandak in the east. It is worth noting that the sub-division does not benefit in anyway from any canal irrigation worth the name. It has however a developed market.
