The battlelines in Bengal have been drawn, and with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday declaring its full list of candidates, the line-up of the two major parties in the state is almost ready (the BJP has yet to release the names of 150 candidates).The big talking point from the TMC list is that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will take on Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari — Mamata’s former lieutenant — from her constituency Bhabanipur in south Kolkata, while Suvendu’s former confidant Pabitra Kar switched to the ruling party earlier in the day and will take on the BJP leader in Nandigram. Despite the BJP’s attempt to pit Suvendu against the CM in both seats and attempt to keep her occupied in a high-decibel campaign in two constituencies, she has chosen not to take the bait and contest from Nandigram as well. This reflects a restrained approach that rejected the prospect of a spectacle, something that the BJP may have wanted.AdvertisementRead | Suvendu Adhikari fielded from Nandigram, Mamata’s seat Bhabanipur: What’s behind the BJP strategy?The TMC list has 291 names, with three seats in the Darjeeling Hills left for Anit Thapa’s Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha. The party has retained 135 MLAs and dropped 74, while 15 other MLAs have had their seats changed. Apart from Kar, 12 other TMC candidates joined the party just hours before the list was announced.Here are the takeaways:Emphasis on women candidatesLike in previous elections, the TMC has fielded a considerable number of women candidates: 52 out of 291. In 2021, the party had 50 women in the fray. Women are a major pillar of the TMC’s candidates, with several of its flagship welfare programmes designed for women.Some of the women MLAs who have been retained are: Chandrima Bhattacharya from Dum Dum Uttar (North 24 Parganas district), Sashi Panja from Shyampukur (Kolkata), Sangita Roy Basunia from Sitai (Coochbehar), Arpita Ghosh from Balurghat (Dakshin Dinajpur), Sabina Yeasmin from Sujapur (Malda), Sayantika Banerjee from Baranagar (North 24 Parganas), Arundhuti Maitra in Sonarpur Dakshin (South 24 Paraganas), Nayna Bandyopadhyay from Chowrangee (Kolkata), and Aditi Munshi from Rajarhat Gopalpur (North 24 Parganas).AdvertisementLok Sabha MP Mitali Bag who was elected to Parliament just two years ago has been fielded from the Arambagh Assembly seat (Hooghly).Experience, loyalty rewardedThe party retained its old-timers and sitting MLAs in most of the seats, choosing experience over experimentation. This, TMC insiders said, was aimed at avoiding factional feuds that might have erupted had new faces been fielded in a majority of the seats. MLAs such as Sovandeb Chattopadhyay in Balygunge (Kolkata), Md Gulam Rabbani in Goalpokhar (Uttar Dinajpur), Pundarikakshya Saha in Nabadwip (Nadia), Jyotipriyo Mullick in Habra (North 24 Parganas), Bankim Chandra Hazra in Sagar (South 24 Parganas), Atin Ghosh in Kashipur–Belgachhia (Kolkata), Akhil Giri in Ramnagar (Purba Medinipur), Manas Bhunia in Sabang (Paschim Medinipur), Madan Mitra in Kamarhati (North 24 Parganas), and Ashok Kumar Deb in Budge Budge (South 24 Parganas).The changes have come mostly in north Bengal and Jangalmahal, where the BJP is a strong force. Among the new faces is Santal activist and law officer in the government, Mangal Soren. Incumbent MLA and state minister Birbaha Hansda has been shifted to Binpur.The newbiesHowever, it is not all old guard in the TMC list. Like Mangal Soren, there are fresh faces too from within the TMC ranks. Among the notable names in the category are the party’s IT Cell head Debangshu Bhattacharya who will contest from Chunchura (Hooghly), spokesperson Md Tauseef Rehman from Bashirhat Uttar (North 24 Parganas), and student leader Trinankur Bhattacharya from Noapara (North 24 Parganas). The sons of four prominent leaders are also set to contest this time: Swarnakamal Saha’s son Sandipan will take his place in Entally (Kolkata), Nirmal Ghosh’s son Tirthankar will be in the fray from Panihati (North 24 Parganas), and MP Kalyan Banerjee’s son Shirsanya is the candidate from Uttarpara (Hooghly). The party has also fielded former Left minister Khiti Goswami’s daughter Vasundhara in Purbasthali Uttar (Purba Bardhaman).Three prominent sports personalities have also found space in the TMC list: former Asian Games gold medallist Swapna Barman from the Rajganj SC-reserved seat (Jalpaiguri), former cricketer Shib Sankar Paul from Tufanganj (Coochbehar), and former footballer Bidesh Bose Saptagram (Hooghly).Calculated changesThe list has touches of subtle adjustments that any party that has been in power for 15 years is expected to make. Leaders who got embroiled in probes into alleged corruption or other high-profile controversies faced the axe. Among them are:Former state minister and TMC heavyweight Partha Chatterjee, who recently got out of jail in the school jobs scam, has been dropped from Behala Purba (Kolkata).Sitting Farakka (Murshidabad) MLA Manirul Islam who kicked up a row in January when he ransacked a BDO office during an anti-SIR protest.Burwan (Murshidabad) MLA Jiban Krishna Saha, another school jobs scam accused.School jobs scam accused Manik Bhattacharya has also not received a ticket and has been replaced by MLA Rukbanur Rahman in Palashipara (Nadia).you may likeDr Sudipto Roy, one of the party’s well-known doctor leaders, has been dropped from Sreerampur (Hooghly). Roy came under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate for alleged financial irregularities at the R G Kar Hospital in Kolkata following the 2024 rape and murder case.Apart from them, actors Kanchan Mullick (Uttarpara, Hooghly) and Chiranjeet (Barasat, North 24 Parganas) and former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary (Shibpur) have also been dropped, while former IPS officer-turned Debra (Paschim Medinipur) MLA Humayun Kabir has been moved to Domkal (Murshidabad) and actor-turned-politician Soham Chakraborty has been moved from Chandipur (Purba Medinipur) to Karimpur (Nadia).Some of the other notable names who have got a ticket are former Rajya Sabha MP and theatre personality Arpita Ghosh who will contest from Balurghat (Dakshin Dinajpur); incumbent Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee from Uluberia Purba (Howrah); and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh from Beleghata (Kolkata).