Political parties in West Bengal reposed their faith in the old guard to take them past the electoral battle, with the big three CPI-M, Trinamool Congress and Congress giving tickets to as many as 12 sitting MLAs.
The Trinamool Congress with five sitting MLAs topped the list followed by three each filed by its electoral ally Congress and the ruling CPI-M.
The Revolutionary Socialist Party, a Left Front partner, has nominated its sitting legislator and a minister Manohar Tirkey from Alipurduar constituency in North Bengal.
The CPI-M has also put up two state cabinet ministers Anisur Rahman and Sailen Sarkar.
Rahman, the animal resources development minister, was pitted against sitting Congress MP Mannan Hussain from the Murshidabad constituency, while Sailen Sarkar, the parliamentary affairs minister would contest from the newly-created Malda (North) from where the sitting Congress MLA Mausam Nur is trying her luck.
Mausam Nur, a niece of former Union minister A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury, was elected to the state Assembly from Sujapur, a segment of Malda (North) constituency, only a couple of months back.