Political reality: everybody loves a Bhojpuri star but the language remains marginal to mainstream politics

Political parties have been clamouring to get on board as many Bhojpuri stars as they can on their candidate list. Bhojpuri folk singer Neha Singh Rathore, who the Congress party is considering for a Lok Sabha ticket from North East Delhi, said, “Crores of Bhojpuri-speaking people have been waiting for decades for their language to get the official status. According to the 2011 Census, 5.6 crore people in India identified Bhojpuri as their mother tongue, ranking sixth in terms of the number of people who speak it in the country. Actor-singer Pawan Singh, who has been fielded by the BJP from Asansol, has 3.5 million followers on Instagram and over 11 lakh followers on X. Actor-singer Dinesh Lal Yadav, BJP MP from Azamgarh who has been given a ticket again, has 1.8 million Instagram followers and over 25 lakh followers on X. Actor-singer-music director Manoj Tiwari, sitting BJP MP from North East Delhi, has over 8 lakh Instagram followers and 1.7 million followers on X. Actor-producer Ravi Kishan, who is the sitting BJP MP from Gorakhpur and has been fielded from there again, has over 2 lakh Instagram followers and over 56.5 lakh followers on X. The Vishwa Bhojpuri Sammelan estimates that approximately 20 crore people speak the language worldwide.