New Delhi, July 26 -- Bharatiya Janata Party MP Manoj Tiwari on Saturday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting that Bhojpuri folk singer and social reformer Bhikhari Thakur be posthumously honoured with the Bharat Ratna.

"I would like to request you with utmost respect that the great Bhojpuri folk poet, playwright, singer, social reformer and artist of the masses, Shri Bhikhari Thakur ji, should be honoured with 'Bharat Ratna' posthumously by the Government of India," Tiwari wrote in his letter.

The BJP MP highlighted Thakur's role in raising critical issues such as child marriage, displacement, women's respect, caste discrimination and other social evils through his music, theatre and writings.

"Shri Bhikhari Thakur Ji pr...