LUCKNOW : Measuring roughly 20 centimetres in length and nine centimetres in breadth, a leather-bound copy of the Constitution, which was frequently flashed by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi during the Lok Sabha elections has a deep Lucknow connection thanks to its publishers, who first printed it in 2009.

And if publishers Eastern Book Company are to be believed, people have started showing more interest in the coat pocket edition of the Constitution after Gandhi pulled it out on several occasions during the campaign.

Sumeet Malik, one of the directors of the Eastern Book Company, told that the idea of printing a court pocket edition came from Supreme Court advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who suggested that they should publish a version that fits easily in the lawyers’ court pockets.

“The first edition was launched in 2009 and there have been about 16 editions of this book, which have been published so far. And over the years, these copies have been purchased by many lawyers and judges, and also given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ram Nath Kovind when he became the President of India,” said Malik.

He added that the book has also been gifted by dignitaries to each other.The Supreme Court judges also carry copies when travelling abroad to gift a copy to their counterparts.

When asked whether people started evincing more interest in this book after Rahul Gandhi started flashing this book at his election rallies, Malik said, “People are now asking for it and they have evinced more interest in it ever after Rahul Gandhi started flashing the book at his poll meetings and election rallies, and now orders have started coming in.”

“In the first edition, we had sold about 700 – 800 copies. When we came to the last edition (16th), we were selling about 5,000-6,000 copies per edition. We hope that in this year, with so much information spreading about this, more copies will be sold,” he added.

On May 10, Gandhi had addressed the Samvidhan Sammelan in Lucknow which was organised by the Samruddha Bharat Foundation. He had then accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attacking the Constitution.

“Modi ji is a king, I am telling the truth,” Gandhi had said. The 14th edition of the coat pocket Constitution, which was published in 2022 was priced at Rs 745.

Meanwhile, senior UP Congress leader and AICC member Ashok Singh told  , “After seeing our leader Rahul Gandhi ji flashing the leather-bound Constitution book, I have placed an order for it through an online e-commerce portal. The way he displayed the book has increased the level of curiosity in me towards the book and I am eagerly waiting for a copy of the book.”

He added that not only the level of curiosity towards the book has increased among the party workers, but people’s faith in the Constitution has also increased due to which surprising electoral results were witnessed in Uttar Pradesh in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Lucknow-based tax lawyer Ashish Tripathi said, “I am also looking forward to the upcoming edition of the coat pocket Constitution, especially after it was flashed by Rahul Gandhi a number of times while campaigning for the INDIA bloc candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.