Chidambaram’s Bhojpuri pitch floors Lok Sabha

Home minister P Chidambaram sprung a pleasant surprise on unsuspecting Lok Sabha members on Thursday by speaking in Bhojpuri — a gesture that was hugely appreciated.

Home minister P Chidambaram sprung a pleasant surprise on unsuspecting Lok Sabha members on Thursday by speaking in Bhojpuri — a gesture that was hugely appreciated.

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“Hum rauwa sabke bhavna samjhatani” (I understand the sentiments of all), said Chidambaram — reading out the sentence in Bhojpuri that had been written in the roman script by fellow Congress member Sanjay Nirupam.

The home minister read out the sentence twice, while enlisting the government’s commitment to bring the “good news” of the inclusion of Bhojpuri language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution during the monsoon session of Parliament.

Chidambaram virtually floored members with his gesture, as he replied to a call attention motion moved by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD), Jagdambika Pal (Congress) and other members of the House.

Speaker Meira Kumar, a strong advocate of the Bhojpuri cause, appreciated the home minister’s gesture, and said: “Most of the time he speaks in English. I have never seen him speaking in Hindi, but he has spoken in Bhojpuri. He has expressed the hope that he will come back with good news. I hope he will come back soon.”

Bhojpuri is spoken in the western part of Bihar, the northwestern part of Jharkhand, and the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh as well as adjoining parts of the Nepal Terai.