Lalu Prasad and Ramvilas Paswan firecrackers will go off with a bang and Nitish Kumar rockets will soar into the night sky this Diwali in Bihar. Also in great demand are Sonia sparklers named after the Congress president and Mallika Sherawat firecrackers.
Firecracker and Sparkler are being packaged with pictures of VVIPs and Bollywood personalities they are named after.
'Give me Lalu atom bombs' demands a customer as another jostles asking for 'Paswan bullet bombs' at the wholesale firecracker market in Patna.
'Lalu, Nitish throw bombs' and 'Paswan biri bombs' are also quite popular.
'The big names help in sale of fireworks. The names of these politicians and Bollywood actresses are fancied by customers," Nezamuddin, a shopkeeper said.
Another shopkeeper, Mohammad Nadeem, said "fireworks named after popular figures sell much better." But what are missing are Rabri Devi flower pots.
The Patna district administration has banned bursting of crackers before 6 pm and after 10 pm on Diwali night though Diwali revelers follow it more as an exception rather than the rule. PTI
