ABSTRACT
The main objective of this chapter is to analyse the rhetoric of local development, consisting mainly of the views and opinions of the rural netas about the problems they encounter in their everyday life, the solutions they suggest and the agencies they prefer for the implementation of those schemes. However, in contrast to the neo-populist constructions of a kisan movement-a unified peasantry harnessing the forces of the countryside against the city-the findings presented here show considerable heterogeneity in the opinions and attitudes among the rural elites. These ideas emerging from the local level reflect great diversity in terms of region and social class, demonstrating respectively the difference in the level of development across India, and signifying the conflict of interests between social classes. These positions are taken and issues are formulated in the context of the governmental and political structure at the local level. As such, the discussion of elite perceptions of problems, solutions and the possible agencies of implementation starts with an introduction to the panchayati raj structure in Gujarat and Orissa.
