Ravi Kishan, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, has introduced a private member bill in the Lok Sabha to include Bhojpuri in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, PTI reported on Sunday.

There are presently 22 languages included in the Eighth Schedule. The addition of Bhojpuri would give it the status of being an official language of India.

On Friday, the actor-turned-politician introduced the Constitution Amendment Bill, 2024, saying that the Bhojpuri language has a rich cultural and literary history and was “not about crass songs”.

“So many people speak and understand this language,” said Kishan. “It is our mother tongue. I wanted to promote this language as the film industry is also being run in this language and lakhs are getting employment.”

He added: “The literature of Bhojpuri needs to be popularised.”

In its statement of objects and reasons, the bill said that Bhojpuri originated from the Sanskrit language, PTI reported.

It says around 140 million people speak Bhojpuri and that it was the mother tongue of many in Uttar Pradesh, Western Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of Madhya Pradesh. The language is also spoken in Mauritius, the bill says.

“In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, movements have been initiated to give Bhojpuri language its due place but it is unfortunate that the ‘Bhojpuri’ language is yet to find a place in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution,” the bill says, according to PTI.

It adds: “For the promotion of literacy and the development of this language, it is necessary that it be included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.”

The inclusion of the language in the Eighth Schedule has been an ongoing demand of Bhojpuri speakers.

“People will take the language seriously,” Kishan told PTI about his bill. “The language is not about crass songs. The language is so rich, it also has literature.”