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Although the Election Commission has added four new symbols, including the Shapla Koli, water lily bud, the National Citizen Party says it wants only the Shapla polls logo.
NCP Joint Member Secretary Zahirul Islam Musa spoke about the matter shortly after the EC issued a gazette notification adding four new symbols to its list on Thursday, bdnews24.com reports.
“The NCP wants the Shapla,” he said. “When we first asked for it, the Election Commission told us, ‘It’s not on the list, so it can’t be given’.
“Now they must clarify how the Shapla bud has been included in the list,” he added.
Asked if the NCP would accept Shapla Koli as its symbol, NCP Joint Member Secretary and Media Cell Secretary Mushfiq Us Salehin told bdnews24.com: “The Election Commission must explain under what criteria Shapla Koli was added as a symbol.
“We’ll discuss the new symbols within the party forum before making a decision. We haven’t held any discussions on this yet.”
Ahead of the next parliamentary election, the EC decided to register two parties, including the NCP. The NCP was given until Oct 7 to select its preferred mark from the 50 symbols listed in the schedule.
Failing to choose within the deadline, the NCP later demanded that the Shapla symbol be added through a rule amendment. The EC, however, repeatedly said that since Shapla was not on the list, it could not be allotted to the party.
In response, NCP leaders warned they would contest the election only with the Shapla symbol and would launch a protest against the EC if it was denied.
At a rally in Kishoreganj on Sunday, the party’s chief organiser for the northern region, Sarjis Alam, said: “If NCP has to take to the streets for the Shapla symbol, it will also join the movement to reform this autocratic Election Commission.”
Amid such warnings, the EC on Thursday added Shapla Koli to the list.
Earlier, on Sept 24, the EC had revised the list to include 115 symbols, but Shapla was not among them. With the latest additions -- Shapla bud, staircase, handshake, and sunflower -- the total number of election symbols now stands at 119.