Demand for pocket version of Constitution surges in aftermath of Lok Sabha battle

There is a renewed interest in the Constitution of India after Opposition leaders were seen flagging a coat pocket version during election rallies

Supreme Court senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan is glad that his idea of authoring a coat pocket edition of the Constitution of India in order to create awareness and generate interest in Constitutional laws is finally flourishing in circles beyond legal.

Talking to The Hindu, the senior advocate said it was not quite his concern how the message of protecting the Constitution reached the masses; he was happy that this election brought into focus “the empowering and essential document every citizen needs to keep at home and have easy access to”.

The recent rise in sales of the coat pocket edition to some extent has been precipitated by the hullabaloo about Rahul Gandhi flaunting the book with the red black cover at his election campaigns last month and getting falsely accused by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party of promoting the Chinese Constitution. It helped to raise a general curiosity among people, and also gave a shot in the arm to the Lucknow-based publishers, the Eastern Book Company (EBC) to boost sales in the last quarter.

According to one of the EBC directors, Sumeet Malik, the 16th edition of the sleek book in print this year has already sold more than 5,000 copies between February and May. In the past, the print run was low with the book selling 3,000 to 4,000 copies in a year mostly among lawyers and in law schools. “In 2024, a bulk order was also placed by the Congress office,” he informed. In the law book trade, any order above 100 is bulk and there has been a demand of multiple batches of 80 to 100 copies from the Congress party this year.

Confirming this, the Congress national coordinator (SC, ST, OBC, Minorities Cell), K. Raju said the idea of Mr. Gandhi carrying a pocket-size Constitution to election rallies and also the post-result press conference is not merely symbolic. “It is a gesture that will continue and keep reminding the people of their rights and recognising the power to be aware,” Mr. Raju said. The copies of the coat-pocket edition have been distributed among the party karyakartas and other people as well, he added.

The idea of a small sized edition that would “fit easily in the coat pocket of lawyers” was pitched by Mr. Sankaranarayanan when he found an increasing number of young lawyers not clued in what the Constitutional laws were. It prompted him to publish the first edition in 2009. The design team at EBC worked with him on printing the 624 page book in the lightweight expensive Bible paper with gilt edges and an imported flexi-bound soft touch cover in red with black border and gold lettering.

The price of the book in the last decade has doubled – from ₹450 to ₹875. “The Preamble of the Constitution starts with the three most powerful words, We The People... and the Constitution is returning to where it belongs, the people; the common citizenry is willing to spend and buy a copy,” Mr. Malik said.