Why Secrets and Spies Are In Great Demand During Elections

Giving broad ideas about assignments being given to the spy agencies, Naman said that basically there are three types of "tasks" for which detectives are being engaged by politicians.

In the first phase, Naman said, agencies were hired by the parties to select candidates, primarily to know their "winnability factor".

"The aim of such investigation was to do a background check of the prospective candidates, including their popularity," he said.

The background check includes whether a candidate has any criminal records. "Secondly, some parties are hiring detective agencies to keep a tab on the activities of their own party workers. The main aim of that is to see whether anybody is acting as a back stabber or passing on important information to rivals," he said.

"In the third type of investigation, parties wish to have information about the election strategy and activities of other parties so they can mould their campaigning and strategies accordingly," added Naman.

The budget for such investigations usually range from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh, depending on the type of investigation or follow-ups.

If a spy agency has already been hired by a political party or an individual then, according to the broad policy framework, it does not take any assignment from the opponents. That is to maintain the credibility of the information and to avoid conflict of interest, he said.

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