Mahagathbandhan demands official language status for Bhojpuri in Bihar

The demand for grant of official language status to Bhojpuri, arguably the most widely spoken dialect in Bihar, has intensified with the opposition Mahagathbandhan strongly coming out in support of it in the state.

Senior leaders of the RJD, Congress and CPI(ML) Liberation, constituents of the Mahagathbandhan, said they would raise the issue in Parliament.

The old demand got a fresh impetus after the Union Cabinet's recent decision to accord classical language status to five more languages - Marathi, Bengali, Pali, Prakrit and Assamese.

The number of such languages now is 11, since Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia got the tag earlier.

CPI(ML) Liberation's Lok Sabha MP Sudama Prasad said, The language is spoken widely in districts such as Bhojpur, Rohtas, Kaimur, Buxar, Saran, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan and Jehanabad in Bihar, and several parts of Jharkhand. Why is the Centre silent on inclusion of Bhojpuri in the Eighth Schedule of the ...