Patna: After the stupendous success of ‘Lalu Prasad pitchkari, ‘Lalu Prasad gulal’ and ‘Lalu Prasad fire-crackers’, among several other items, it is now the turn of ‘Lalu mango’ to win the hearts of the people of Bihar.

‘Brand Lalu’, associated with a variety of products, including chocolates, cola and sattu, apart from fire-crackers, sprinklers and colours, had done wonders in terms of sales in the state last holi, thanks to the huge popularity of the colourful railway minister among the masses.

Encouraged by the success of the uniquely-branded products and the huge financial gain, a section of bulk traders here has now renamed the local Digha variety of mango ‘Lalu mango’ and started selling it through local whole-sellers and other traders. Each mango has a Lalu sticker on it.

The innovative marketing strategy has met with instant success as locals are scrambling for the “new variety” of the delicacy. The ‘Lalu mango’ is being brought in bulk at the rate of Rs35 a kg.

Since the railway minister is also chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, national spokesman of the party Shyam Rajak gifted 61 baskets of ‘Lalu mangoes’, with pictures of his leader on every basket, on his grand 61st birthday on June 11.

Each of the hundreds of party supporters, who had assembled at Lalu’s house to greet him on the occasion, was also gifted a piece of ‘Lalu mango’.

Meanwhile, as the demand for ‘Lalu mango’ soars in the local market “beyond expectation”, a section of traders is toying with the idea of exporting the “new variety” to other states, including West Bengal, Jharkhand, New Delhi and Maharashtra, where a large number of Biharis reside.

Source : DNA