Lucknow, Mar 14 (IANS): The flavour of the season is undoubtedly the bulldozer.

From tattoos, it is now Holi that is taking on the "colours" of the bulldozer.

With bulldozer forming the cornerstone of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's election campaign and becoming almost synonymous with the law-and -order situation, people now want to link the machine to everything.

"Bulldozer colours are mainly saffron, yellow and now black has also made an entry into the colour market. After a lull for two years during the pandemic, people are now in a mood to celebrate Holi in a big way and there has been a 40 per cent increase in sale of gulal," said Ashraf Ali, a wholesale seller in Yahiaganj market.

Bulldozer colours, incidentally, are mainly chemical-based colours which leave their impact for two to three days on the Holi revellers. They can be used as gulal and also as water colours.

"Herbal colours come mostly in muted shades while chemical colours are stronger and more vibrant. People, this year, are opting for stronger colours and concerns about the side effects have been swept aside," he said.

However, demand for herbal gulal, eco-friendly, natural dye, mostly available in four colours yellow, pink, sandalwood and green in jasmine, rose, sandal and khus fragrances has also gone up.

Traders at Chowk market claimed, "Ease in pandemic has led to a spurt in demand for colours though a drop in production has kept a lid on supplies in retail."

There is a demand from adjoining districts also because the newly elected legislators are playing celebrations on a large scale with their voters.

Wholesalers say that business this year, may surpass previous years' sales looking at the volume of advance bookings from retailers. They say shops are placing fresh orders despite having inventories, anticipating a sharp rise in demand.

"Consumer sentiment is very high this festive season and this would be reflected in sales this Holi. Every shop is placing orders in bulk," said Rohit, a retailer.

Limited production, meanwhile, has led to a jump in prices of colours this season which are up by over 10-15 per cent, depending upon the brands.