Raipur: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to table a bill to give official language status to Chhattisgarhi in the winter session of the state assembly beginning on Monday.

"The people of Chhattisgarh have been seeking official language status for Chhattiagarhi for the past several years, now the government has decided to bring in a legislation in the assembly beginning Nov 26-Dec 7," a senior minister told IANS on Sunday.

Chhattisgarhi is an Indo-Aryan language having an estimated 12 million speakers mostly in rural areas.

Political analysts say the BJP is bringing in the legislation with an eye on the state assembly elections due Oct-Nov 2008. IANS