CANDIDATES TURNING CARS INTO ‘TANKS’
Politicians bulletproofing their rides, not taking chances in their campaign
THE mechanics retrofitting cars with blast-resistant doors and bulletproof windshields in a Punjab garage have been flat out of late — elections are looming, and politics can be a dangerous game in India.
In the past, prime ministers were assassinated, political motorcades
ambushed and party officials attacked, and some candidates aren’t taking chances.
Orders for specialised armoured cars have been piling up at Sunchit Sobti’s factory here, where his crew have retrofitted four SUVs for political bigwigs since the upcoming polls — the biggest election in history — was announced a few weeks ago.
It’s a pattern that repeats itself every election season, said Sobti, whose father started supplying armoured cars for politicians and VIP clients in the 1980s when an insurgency was raging in Punjab.
“This one is the mother of all elections. Like all big events, there are bigger risks involved and leaders want to be safe. We have been working on orders for months,” he said.
It was not just political candidates keen to bullet and blastproof their cars, but party bookkeepers and backroom heavyweights too, he added.
At least seven rival companies in northern Punjab, neighbouring Haryana and also Maharashtra state in the west, have experienced a spike in orders for armour-plated vehicles.
The market for such cars in India is worth US$150 million (RM650 million) a year and growing by double digits, industry representatives said. Companies like Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tata Motors, also offer a small range of pre-made armoured vehicles.
The outlay is considerable for reinforcing a private vehicle, costing anywhere between US$7,000 and US$70,000.
It can take weeks to bolster a car with imported ballistic glass and steel plates able to withstand grenade fragments and gunfire, and even longer for the permission to put the car on the road.
But for some, it is a price worth paying.
“Success and jealousy knock at you together,” said one Punjabi state lawmaker who last year had his SUV armour plated. He declined to be named.
“You can’t even trust your friends, forget about enemies. I can’t compromise on my safety.”
More than 100 politicians or party officials were murdered in 2016 alone, the latest figures from India’s National Crime Records Bureau show.
In trouble spots, candidates are escorted by police as they drum up support. But former Delhi police chief Maxwell Pereira said the majority of politicians never faced any danger, and it was the state’s responsibility to ensure protection for at-risk officials.
But that is not stopping candidates from turning their cars into tanks as polling day draws near.
“We want our customers and leaders to be safe,” said Narinder Singh, a mechanic at Sobti’s workshop in Punjab.