The West Bengal Panchayat (Second Amendment) Bill, 2026, was passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Saturday, 25 July 2026, with 169 votes in favour and just 13 against — a commanding majority that nonetheless exposed a significant internal split within the ruling dispensation. The legislation, gazetted on 23 July, seeks to substantially restructure the financial and administrative authority of elected heads across all three tiers of the state’s panchayat system.

Key Provisions of the Bill

The amendment targets several provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973, with the primary change being a curtailment of the bill-sanction and signing authority currently held by elected panchayat heads. Under the revised framework, elected representatives will retain the power to approve proposals, but the actual clearing and sanctioning of bills will shift to bureaucrats. The stated objectives are administrative stability, uninterrupted public service delivery, and smoother functioning of rural civic bodies.

What the Government Said

Panchayat Affairs and Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh defended the legislation during the Assembly debate, arguing it does not infringe on the constitutional powers of elected panchayat heads. “Rather, it is aiming at curtailing the authority for corruption and commission against rural civic services. Henceforth, the elected panchayat heads will only approve any proposal. But the Bill will be cleared and sanctioned by the bureaucrats,” he said. Ghosh added that the core objective is to ensure money sanctioned for public services is spent solely for that purpose.

Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay, also participating in the debate, trained his criticism on the previous Trinamool Congress-led administration under former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “You ruined the panchayat system. That is why the corrupt panchayat heads have stopped coming to their offices. The public service is getting hampered. The system needs to be changed, and the new Bill is intended to bring about that change,” he said, alleging that a hereditary rather than participatory panchayat culture had taken root over the past 15 years.

Voting Breakdown and Opposition

Of the 13 votes cast against the Bill, nine came from legislators belonging to the faction of the Trinamool Congress legislative party aligned with former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — described as the ‘original but minority’ grouping. The remaining four dissenting votes came from two Indian National Congress legislators, one CPI(M) legislator, and one All India Secular Front (AISF) legislator. A total of 32 legislators were absent during the voting.

Political Significance

The Bill’s passage lays bare the deepening fracture within the Trinamool Congress, with the Banerjee-aligned minority faction openly defying the ruling majority on a flagship governance measure. This comes amid an ongoing power struggle within the party that has played out across legislative votes in recent months. Critics argue that transferring financial sanction authority from elected representatives to bureaucrats risks undermining the democratic character of the panchayat system — a concern the government has rejected. How the restructured panchayat framework performs on the ground will be closely watched ahead of the next local body elections in West Bengal.