Bangladesh Congress says it is first claimant of ‘Shapla’ symbol

Bangladesh Congress has asked the Election Commission (EC) to allocate the ‘Shapla’ (Water Lily) symbol to the party if it is included in the list of electoral symbols as it was denied the symbol during its registration six years ago.

Amid the National Citizen Party-NCP’s strong demand to have ‘Shapla’ allocated as its electoral symbol, Bangladesh Congress on Monday placed the demand in a letter submitted before the Election Commission, addressing the Chief Election Commissioner. Necessary documents supporting its claims were also attached to the letter.

 “In recent times, several political parties have demanded the ‘Shapla’ as their electoral symbol. In this context, if the national emblem of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh — the Shapla — is allowed as a party symbol, Bangladesh Congress should be recognised as the first claimant and given priority,” the party said in the letter.

 “So, we are appealing to the EC to allocate the ‘Shapla’ to Bangladesh Congress, replacing our current ‘Coconut’ symbol, if Shapla is finally allocated,” it added.

Since its establishment in 2013, Bangladesh Congress has been using the ‘Shapla’ as its party symbol in all documents and then sought it to be allocated for the party during its registration application in 2017, but the Election Commission told it that the ‘Shapla’ is the national emblem that can’t be a party symbol.

Later, when the registration of Bangladesh Congress was granted (in 2019) in line with the judgment of the Supreme Court, the party demanded the 'Book' as symbol, but Bangladesh Congress was forced to accept the 'Green Coconut’ as symbol as it was in the list of symbols, the letter reads.

Secretary General of Bangladesh Congress Md Yarul Islam told UNB that his party had first claimed ‘Shapla’ in 2017. “If the ‘Shapla’ is allocated, Bangladesh Congress must be given priority,” he said.

Earlier on October 02 last, the EC sent a letter to NCP attaching a list of 50 electoral symbols to ask the party to pick one from the list instead of its desired ‘Shapla’ symbol within October 7.

In response, the NCP mailed a letter to the EC Secretary, asking again to allocate ‘Shapla’ as its symbol. The party also sent several designs of their desired symbol – Shapla, Red Shapla or White Shapla.

On October 9, a three-member NCP delegation, led by its Chief Coordinator Nasir Uddin Patwary met the CEC to reiterate its call to the Election Commission to allocate ‘Shapla’ as its electoral symbol.

After the meeting, Partwary even told reporters that NCP will not accept registration from the Election Commission without the ‘Shapla’ symbol. “We’ve made it clear that NCP will not receive registration without the Shapla symbol. We’ll wait for a month,” he said.

The NCP Chief Coordinator said they believe there is no legal barrier to include Shapla in the list of electoral symbols, adding that there is the hand of an “invisible force” that obstructs the process.

On September 25 last, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin told reporters that Nagorik Oikya, led by Mahmudur Rahman Manna, first applied for the ‘Shapla’ symbol and then NCP applied for the same symbol.

Manna said they will protest if the EC allocates ‘Shapla’ to NCP, but they won’t go to the court challenging the EC’s decision.