Mamata walks around in Darjeeling, gives kids polio drops

Darjeeling, Jan 21 (IANS) Strolling on the hilly roads of Darjeeling town, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday chatted with the common people and traders and administered pulse polio drops to children.

Banerjee, on a four day-trip to north Bengal, reached this tourist town on Monday night, accompanied by several ministers.

She took long walks on the roads of the hill town - around 600 km north of Kolkata - since the morning and interacted with the masses, patiently listening to their complaints and demands.

Then she went to Chawkbazar near the hill town''s world famous Mall - where a pulse polio immunisation programme was on.

Following a request from the health workers, Banerjee administered polio vaccine drops to three children and bought them sweaters.

As the parents of one of the kids thanked her, Banerjee said: "It''s not me, you deserve to be thanked, for bringing your child to this camp."

Banerjee later took to Facebook and called upon the people to take a pledge to eradicate polio.

"Our objective is to form a polio-free society. Health is wealth. Let us all takeA a pledge to eradicate polio and build a beautifu society," she posted on her social media handle.

Banerjee also spoke to a cross section of traders and enquired about the state of their businesses.

The Chief Minister is scheduled to lead a rally in Darjeeling against the Citizenship Amendment Act on Wednesday.

As in recent years, Banerjee would be present at the birth anniversary celebrations of legendary freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose on Thursday at the Darjeeling mall.

The Trinamool Congress had fared miserably during the general elections in entire north Bengal including Darjeeling, failing to win even one of the eight seats in the region. The BJP won seven seats, while one went to the Congress.

--IANS