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The issue of political empowerment of women has been a burning issue in the country since 1970s. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts were adopted to realize the objective of political empowerment of the rural and urban grassroots. West Bengal which had already established itself as a model panchayati raj state took no time to implement the 73rd Amendment Act with the provision for 33% seat reservation in all the three tiers of the panchayati raj. This paper explores the ground reality in the aftermath of the implementation of the 73rd Amendment Act during the 1993 panchayat election in the state through the newspaper content on the issue in a selection of the most widely circulated newspapers. The paper explores the response of the women candidates, nominated in the reserve seats, the reaction of the other panchayat members and that of the political parties reflected through the news reports during the period. The paper also investigates the role played by a mass media (newspapers) with respect to women empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]