Politics is the number one item on people's minds here, and the Patna Book Fair too reflected that on Sunday.
From books on chief minister Nitish Kumar's work on Bihar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diary entries turned into books; from compilation of Union finance minister Arun Jaitley's blogs to JNU PhD student Kanhaiya Kumar's thoughts - all are flying off shelves at the fair set up on Gandhi Maidan by the Centre for Readership Development.
Delhi-based publication Prabhat Prakashan's booth has books on both Nitish and Modi, but its sales representative said the chief minister has a good lead over the Prime Minister. "Till 2pm on Sunday, around 15 copies of books on Nitish such as Nitish Kumar Aur Ubharta Bihar written by Arun Sinha and others were sold. Only one copy of Sakshi Bhav, a compilation of Modi's 30-year diary entries had been sold till the time," said Prabhat Prakashan sales representative Amit Sharma.
The store has kept books authored by the Prime Minister, including Jyoti Punj and Aapatkal Mein Gujarat, but they have not found too many takers yet. "Nitish ji is undoubtedly more popular than Modiji here," said Sharma.
The Telegraph spotted Patna resident Ranjeet Kumar, an accountant with a private firm, looking for books on the Prime Minister, but nothing seemed to win his attention. Why? "I was looking for some book which detailed the Prime Minister's journey from a tea-seller to where he is now, but all I saw were his diary compilations, poems, prayers and speeches," said Ranjeet. "The books available are not really my cup of tea, so I didn't get any."
Apart from books on Nitish and those written by Modi, the Prabhat Prakashan booth also has Andhere Se Ujale Ki Or, a compilation of Arun Jaitley's blogs and articles, and Vikas Ke Path written by Union minister for road transport Nitin Gadkari.
Sales representative Sharma also said Champaran Mein Mahatma Gandhi by former President Rajendra Prasad is also selling like hot cake this edition of the book fair. "So far around 30 copies have been sold," he said.
Parenting books are quite the rage, too, The Telegraph found. Pustak Mahal has sold at least 35 copies of Bachchon Mein Ziddipan, Udandata Aur Anshasanhinta Se Kaise Nibte between the fair's inauguration on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Booth manager Subhash Chandra Tarun said Please Mom! It's My Life is doing good business too.
Asha Tripathi, an Anandpuri resident, who bought a book on parenting from the store, said: "This will help me deal with my 12-year-old son Daksh in a better way."
Patna University student Rakesh Kumar had other books on his checklist - he bought Jati Koi Awaz Nahi: Rohith Vemula Ki Online Diary and Bihar Se Tihar Tak written by Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union leader Kanhaiya from the Rajpal Prakashan booth.
"Rohith Vemula's suicide and Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest stirred up a political storm in the country," said Rakesh. "I bought the books because both make for very interesting reads."
