When people defect, their win-ability is higher than the average candidate. Their new party gives them a ticket as it see a chance of these people winning. A defector doesn’t even get news coverage unless they are, say, a district president or an MLA who knows how many more people are going to defect. I would take only those people who have held some official position. It is these big defections that get reported and generate public attention.

—Sanjay Kumar, director of CSDS; psephologist