NEW DELHI: Khan Market witnessed an unusual frenzy on Tuesday, with buyers making a beeline for Bahrisons Booksellers and Faqir Chand Book Store to get their hands on books by Sonia Gandhi.
The rush was not just about buying a copy, as several visitors were also seen posing for photographs with posters of the Congress leader displayed at the bookstores.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s newly released memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, is now available on quick-commerce platform Blinkit at a discounted price of Rs 849, with an estimated delivery time of just eight minutes in parts of Delhi.
Blinkit’s online catalogue listed the hardcover memoir at Rs 849 against its printed price of Rs 1,299, translating into a discount of about 35 per cent. The platform’s publicly indexed catalogue showed an estimated delivery time of eight minutes in Central Delhi, although listings in some other locations, including parts of South Delhi, carried an ‘Out of Stock - Coming Soon’ status.
In comparison, Amazon.in showed delivery estimates of up to 48 hours, underlining the potential speed advantage of quick-commerce platforms in meeting demand for newly released titles.
Readers lined up at prominent bookstores in central Delhi on Tuesday to pick up copies of ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, the memoir of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, with booksellers describing a strong first day.
Many prominent personalities landed up in Khan Market on Tuesday, including former intelligence officer AS Dulat, Rajiv Shukla and Congress leader Alka Lamba, among others.
Anuj Bahri, owner of Bahrisons in Khan Market, said, “The response for the book on the first day has been spectacular. Mrs Gandhi doesn’t do interviews, so this book is as close as we will get to a peek into her journey. Since she is a public figure and belongs to one of the most prominent political families, readers have shown great interest in the book.”
He said the Khan Market outlet had received at least 1,000 copies, which were likely to be sold soon. “On the first day, around 400 copies were sold,” he said.
At Faqir Chand Book Store, also in Khan Market, buyers came in steadily through the day. “We are expecting to sell at least 150-200 books on the first day,” said Abhinav Bamhi, fourth-generation owner of the bookstore.
He said such demand for hard copies was good for bookstores as it brought people back to brick-and-mortar shops.
Oxford Bookstore on Barakhamba Road near Connaught Place also saw people placing pre-orders and buying the book.
