Kolkata:
The ruling Left Front announced its list of candidates for the upcoming six-phase assembly polls in West Bengal today. There are 149 new faces on the list, 15 more than the last time.
Surprisingly, seven sitting ministers were dropped from the list of contestants apparently to counter anti-incumbency. These include Manab Mukherjee, Jogesh Barman, Partha De, Tapan Roy, Binoy Biswas, Bankim Ghosh and Rabindranath Hembrom.
The list was announced by Left Front Chairman Biman Bose at a press conference in Kolkata.
Assembly Speaker H A Halim, who has held the post for the last 29 years, will not contest the elections to the 294-member House, beginning April 18, on health ground. However, his son Farhoud Halim will stand from Ballygunge constituency.
As per the list, finalised at a meeting of the Left Front, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been renominated from Jadavpur seat.
Industry Minister Nirupam Sen has been renominated from Burdwan (South) as also Health Minister Surya Kanta Mishra from Narayangar. Urban Development Minister Ashok
Bhattacharaya has been fielded in Siliguri, Sports Minister Kanti Ganguly in Raidighi, Land and Revenue Minister Abdul Rezzak Mollah in Canning (East) and IT Minister Debesh Das in Entally.
Constituencies of some ministers have been changed, including that of Housing Development Minister Goutam Deb. (With PTI Inputs)