LS polls: Section of voters in Ara demand inclusion of Bhojpuri language in Eighth Schedule

ARA (BIHAR), 31 May, 2024 : A section of voters in the Ara Lok Sabha seat in Bihar are nursing a hope that after the elections, efforts will be made by the new dispensation to include Bhojpuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Bhojpuri is spoken in several parts of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Ara, the headquarters of Bhojpur district, is a historic city and culturally-rich region, and Bhojpuri the dominant language of this region earlier known as Shahabad, which includes current districts of Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur and neighbouring areas.    Flavours of Bhojpuri could be heard in election campaigning too in this key constituency, where sitting MP from BJP and Union minister R K Singh is seeking a hat-trick of win.
CPI(ML) Liberation candidate Sudama Prasad is fronting the fight for INDIA bloc in Ara.
On the last day of the campaigning on Thursday, an e-rickshaw carrying BJP flags and a poster bearing images of Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi went around in the streets of Ara, playing two campaign songs in Bhojpuri.
One song has a refrain ‘R K Singh sahab rachle, Ara mey itihaas’ (R K Singh has scripted history in Ara), while the other one has the jingle — ‘R K Singh ji sahib ji ke phir se jitaib ji, bhari bahumat se inka vijayi banayib ji’ (Will make R K Singh win again, make him emerge victorious with huge mandate).