Ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election, dissatisfaction and legal contention over the Returning Officers’ scrutiny of nomination papers has taken center stage, as a total of 645 appeals have been submitted to the Election Commission, with 176 filed on the final day alone; these appeals primarily seek reconsideration of rejected or accepted nominations, placing the legitimacy of candidate eligibility under renewed administrative and legal scrutiny; starting Saturday morning, hearings will commence at the EC headquarters in Agargaon and will continue through January 18, following a sequence in which appeals numbered 1–70 will be heard on the opening day, followed by 71–140, 141–210, and 211–280 on subsequent days, with later hearing schedules to be announced soon; earlier in the week, 174, 131, 122 and 41 appeals were filed on consecutive days, reflecting intense competition among candidates, tactical positioning by political parties, and strategic recalculations at constituency and alliance levels; on the final day of scrutiny, Returning Officers declared 1,842 nominations valid and cancelled 723 out of 2,568 total submissions from 300 constituencies—these cancellations now make up the bulk of the appeals; consequently, the appeals process has become a critical arena for political survival and legal contestation, as parties and candidates view this as a last window for reinstating candidacy or ensuring strategic leverage within the ballot structure; for the Election Commission, the period is equally sensitive—balancing time constraints, procedural transparency, perceived fairness, and public confidence in an election expected to shape the national political future; the outcome of the appeals will determine the final ballot composition—who will compete, who will be excluded, and how party strength and alliance configurations may shift across constituencies, potentially influencing broader national politics; as final lists approach, campaign preparation, coalition negotiation, messaging strategies, and grassroots mobilization are already aligning with the contours of the appeals battlefield, underscoring how legal procedure and political maneuvering now intersect as decisive variables in the pre-election landscape.