This election, private detectives, normally used for gathering personal or business information discreetly, have been making rounds of constituencies in more than half-a-dozen states, vetting candidates, tracking rivals, their poll code violations, voter preferences, their demographic profiles and helping identify swing factors.
They are present at roadshows, rallies and street-corner meetings, even recording some activities with secret hi-tech gadgets, and say they have been hired by almost all major parties in these states.
"I would not like to name parties and candidates but almost all major political parties have hired our services. Initially, the parties approached us when they had to decide on candidates. Now majority work is being done at the behest of the candidates," said Utpal Chaudhary, proprietor of Mumbai's Lotus Detective which has 120 detectives spread out in 80 constituencies across Delhi, UP, Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Chaudhary and his peers in the business claim that parties have got them to conduct voters' analysis on the basis of religion, caste, age, income, past polling patterns, issues and factors responsible for victory or loss accompanied with a complete background of the elected candidate.
According to the Association of Private Detectives and Investigators (APDI), comprising over 400 detective agencies, their organisation was contacted over a year ago by some MPs to conduct booth-wise surveys. "The MPs wanted a survey of their constituencies in terms of new voters, voters' opinion about them, satisfaction level to strategise for elections and cater to the needs of the constituency," said Kunwar Vikram Singh, APDI president.
Source: The Indian Express Nervous parties turn to pvt detectives to snoop on rivals
