Ranchi, Jan. 3: Adolf Hitler has a fan following in the capital if the sales posted by his autobiography, Mein Kampf, at the book fair is anything to go by.

More than 200 copies of Mein Kampf disappeared from the bookshelves as soon as they arrived, said stall owners who had to order for fresh stock.

Head of Ranchi University’s postgraduate history department B.D. Dubey, who was seen hopping from one stall to another, had an explanation for the capital’s interest in Hitler. According to Dubey, the socio-economic and political condition of the country is unstable and as a result, people look up to anti-heroes like Hitler.

Close on the heels of the “great dictator” was Sherlock Holmes. More than 150 copies of Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Selected Works” were sold at the fair.

Books on freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, including Jail Diary and Why I am an Atheist, also sold like hot cakes.

M.P. Gupta, a stall owner, who had to order for fresh stocks of several books, said: “I have put up stalls at several places in the country, including the World Book Fair in New Delhi. But no where have I seen so much love for books as I have witnessed in Ranchi.”

Ranchi Women's College principal Manju Sinha, who was looking for a Hindi novel by Kashinath Singh, said: “The way people are thronging the stalls, it shows that love for books has not diminished.”

The fair, which ends tomorrow, recorded a staggering 75,000 visitors and a sale of over Rs 10 lakh today. Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, who spent nearly three hours at the fair today, said: “This is my fourth visit to the fair and I have bought books worth Rs 60,000 for the Vidhan Sabha library.”

On his favourite books, Namdhari said: “I prefer books on Sanskrit shlokas and suktis (verses and quotations). However, the books for the Vidhan Sabha library have been bought keeping in mind the varied interest of legislators.”

Revenue minister Madhu Singh, who visited the fair, along with department officials, said: “I like books dealing with rural subjects. I feel no one deals with such themes better than Munshi Premchand.”

Schoolchildren made a beeline for stalls selling CBSE textbooks and encyclopaedias. As many as 50 copies of Campbell’s Biology, which costs Rs 1,800, was sold at the fair today.