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Updated: Sep 24, 2020 20:57 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government’s move to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories has prompted Gorkha outfits in West Bengal’s Darjeeling hills to seek a similar solution to their long-standing demand for a separate state they want to call Gorkhaland.

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The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019, aimed at bifurcating the state into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) led by fugitive leader Bimal Gurung, and the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF), which are allies of the BJP, have hailed Monday’s development as a “very brave decision” and demanded the Centre’s intervention in the Gorkhaland issue as well.Darjeeling has intermittently witnessed agitations and bloodshed since the 1980s over the Gorkhas’ demand for a separate state.

The other faction of the GJM, led by Binay Tamang has however accused the Centre of working against the will of people and political parties in Jammu and Kashmir.