Brilliant Idea

NEW DELHI: A former politician in southern India has launched a "rent-a-crowd" company to recruit people to cheer at party rallies and said he has been deluged by would-be recruits.

"When all political parties and organisations are doing it discreetly, why can't we do it professionally?" the Hindustan Times newspaper quoted the company's founder, Devarajan, who goes by one name, as saying.

Indian political parties are known for paying people to show up for rallies, often transporting them in fleets of buses, but usually the recruitment is carried out by the parties.

Devarajan is offering recruits training, guaranteed wages and says they can be deployed when parties need a "decent-sized crowd" at a rally, the newspaper reported.