12 new faces, sitting ministers figure in Left's list for

Twelve new faces and as many sitting ministers figured in the ruling Left Front's list of 60 candidates for the upcoming Tripura assembly elections.
The north eastern state goes to polls on February 18 and the results will be out on March 3.
Barring the 12 new faces, the Left Front's list did not spring any major surprise as most of the old guards were accommodated in the list.
The list of candidates was released today.
The RSP, CPI and Forward Bloc, three key constituents of the ruling alliance, were allotted one seat each, down from two in the previous election.

The newly appointed convener of the Left Front, Bijan Dhar, maintained that the candidates who hold sway over the masses have been nominated.

"Altogether, seven women are contesting the assembly election this time, two more than the last time," Dhar, who is also secretary of the state unit of CPI(M), said.
"Not a single minister has been dropped from the list. They would contest the election from their current constituencies," he said.
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar will contest the polls from his home turf - Dhanpur assembly constituency, Dhar said.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) has re-nominated Jail Minister Manindra Reang from Santir Bazar (ST) seat in south Tripura, while the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) has decided to field a new candidate Srikanta Datta from Radhakishorepur constituency.

Prominent among the new faces are Forward Bloc's Biswanath Saha, mayor of Council of Agartala Municipal Corporation, and Amal Chakraborty (CPI-M), president of the state unit of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI).
"The Left Front would win the elections with a thumping majority, giving a befitting reply to the BJP-Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance in the election," Dhar asserted.