Super snoops take bite of poll pie

The air is thick with cigarette smoke in the basement office of Virendra Mohan Pandit. "It's always a busy time before elections," says Pandit. With his white beard and soft-spoken demeanor, it's easy to mistake him for a college professor. But this 69-year-old former CBI officer who during his tenure with the agency, handled sensitive cases like the Indira Gandhi assassination, now heads MMC Investigators, a detective agency whose services are much in demand among politicians before elections. "Private investigators have always had an important place in a candidate's election strategy," he says. "I was once approached by a senior politician who went on to occupy a prominent government position of that time. He wanted crucial information on a rival, which we delivered. He used it in his campaign and won the seat." Traditionally, parties have used detectives to keep tabs on rivals or check credentials of seat-seekers. But increasingly, they are being commissioned to keep an eye on spoilers within the party. "The biggest threat today comes from disgruntled members whose seat demands have not been met," says Mahesh Chandra Sharma of GDX Detectives. "Jo rooth gaya, woh khatarnak hai. Our brief, especially after the seats are finalized, is to find out who is creating a rift within the party."

As the poll race intensifies, so does the demand for sleuths. "The last three days before polling day are the most crucial," says Sharma. "This is when votes can be swung. We have to keep track of who's swinging the votes. Many elections have been won because information on the way a certain group would vote was given to a candidate in time and he was able to either control the damage or woo the particular group."

Most detectives are wary of disclosing their charges which depends on the nature of the assignment, although estimates range from a couple of lakh to about Rs 50 lakh per commission. "The maximum work is required for a candidate's area survey and our fee is usually the highest for that," says a veteran investigator. "This involves deploying a large number of people — at least six months to one year before elections — who fan out through the constituency. They strike up conversations in parks, nukkad and paan shops and figure out the popular mood. They also identify crucial areas where people are dissatisfied. If our client is challenging the incumbent, he can use this information to either get that work done and win some points or if he is the sitting MLA or MP, he can become aware of this dissatisfaction and make amends to retain his vote-base."