In West Bengal, the establishment of 19 tribunals to address the appeals of 27 lakh voters whose names were deleted from the electoral list has sparked anxiety among many, including 87-year-old Manmatha Nath Bhowmik. Clad in a white kurta-pyjama, Bhowmik expressed his fears of being sent back to Bangladesh, where his family migrated from in 1959. Despite having citizenship papers, he feels uncertain about his status as he stands outside the Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation in Joka, near Kolkata. The tribunals, headed by high court judges, have begun operations amid heavy security due to previous unrest, including an incident in Malda where judicial officers were surrounded by an angry crowd. The Bengal Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Agarwal, reported that 16 out of 19 judges commenced work, although the exact number of applications received remains unclear. With voting dates approaching on April 23 and 29, the urgency for voters to present their cases increases, and many, like Bhowmik, prefer to come in person despite the option to submit applications online or through local offices. The situation reflects the heightened tensions surrounding citizenship and electoral rights in the region.