It's a cracker of a time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar. Ahead of the festival of light, crackers named after PM Modi are selling like hot cakes in the state. He is way ahead of other politicians in the popularity index as cracker sellers are coping with the rush for Modi crackers and other fireworks named after the prime minister.

Naming crackers after politicians is nothing new in Bihar. But this Diwali, PM Modi tops the list ahead of Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad and former chief minister Nitish Kumar. The markets of Patna have been flooded with different varieties of crackers named after the PM.

According to cracker sellers, this is the first time in many years that a non-Bihari politician has emerged as the "most saleable face" in Diwali in Bihar. "For many years, Lalu Prasad was the most popular brand in Bihar. But this year his pictures are hardly being used by the manufacturers to sell their products," said Minhaz Alam, a shopkeeper in Machharhatta, a cracker market hub.

Alam said that former chief minister Nitish Kumar too had become a saleable face but his appeal diminished to a great extent this year. "Until last year, Nitish-brand crackers were sold like hot cakes in Diwali but this time it is Modi all the way," he said.