In the lead-up to the elections in West Bengal, the Appellate Tribunals, particularly one led by retired Justice TS Sivagnanam, approved 1,717 appeals from voters whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls due to a controversial exercise. This raised significant concerns as 27.16 lakh voters were removed from the rolls, preventing them from participating in the elections. Justice Sivagnanam, who handled appeals for constituencies in North 24 Parganas and Kolkata, resigned just a day after the polling period ended, citing personal reasons. The Supreme Court had ordered the establishment of these tribunals to address the trust deficit between the Election Commission of India and the state government, following a review that flagged discrepancies among 60.06 lakh electors. Despite the tribunal's efforts, only 1,468 names were added back to the rolls before the second phase of voting, leaving many voters disenfranchised. The Supreme Court noted that 34 lakh appeals had been filed regarding the deletions and inclusions during the adjudication process.