apparently to counter anti-incumbency. Assembly Speaker H A Halim will not contest the elections to the 294-member House, beginning April 18, on health ground.
The list of Left Front candidates, announced by Left Front Chairman Biman Bose at a press conference here does not carry the names of Nine ministers, including Manab Mukherjee (Tourism Development) and Partha Dey (School Education).
As per the list, finalised at a meeting of the Left Front, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been re-nominated from Jadavpur seat. Industry Minister Nirupam Sen has been re-nominated 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.