Gorkhaland

Gorkhaland  is a proposed State in India demanded by some Gorkha people of Darjeeling Hills and the people of Gorkha ethnic origin in Dooars in Northern West Bengal

The movement for a separate state of Gorkhaland gained serious momentum during the 1980s, when a violent agitation was carried out by Gorkha National Liberation Front(GNLF)led by Subhash Ghising

The agitation ultimately led to the establishment of a semiautonomous body in 1988 called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) to govern certain areas of Darjeeling District

In 2008, a new party called the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha(GJM) raised the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland

In July 2011, GJM signed an agreement with the state and central governments for the formation of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration(GTA) a semi-autonomous body that replaced the DGHC in the Darjeeling hills

A bill for the creation of GTA was passed in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in September 2011

The West Bengal government issued a gazette notification for the GTA Act in March 2012, signalling preparations for elections for the GTA.