Dhaka, July 13 (V7N) – The National Citizen Party (NCP) has warned it will engage in political struggle if it is denied the use of the ‘Shapla’ (water lily) election symbol. Nasiruddin Patwari, the party’s chief coordinator, made the statement after meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Sunday morning.

Patwari emphasized that the Election Commission (EC) needs to be reconstituted before the upcoming elections, and the legal framework governing the EC should be amended accordingly. He stressed that the NCP has no legal barriers to receiving the ‘Shapla’ symbol and considers it irreplaceable. He asserted, “If prevented, we will fight politically.”

Advocate Zahirul Islam, NCP’s joint member secretary, echoed that no legal obstacle exists for the ‘Shapla’ symbol. He revealed that the party has submitted a fresh application to secure the symbol and mentioned that the EC is actively working on the matter.

Earlier in the day, a five-member NCP delegation, including Hasnat Abdullah, Sarjis Alam, and Nasiruddin Patwari, met with the CEC to discuss symbol allocation and expatriate voting. The NCP also proposed legally removing the ‘boat’ symbol from the list of election symbols.

On Wednesday, the Election Commission decided not to include ‘Shapla’ as an election symbol in the official rules, effectively barring all parties from using it. Alongside ‘Shapla,’ the NCP has requested symbols such as ‘pen’ and ‘mobile phone.’

Currently, 69 symbols are registered under the party election rules, but the EC has proposed increasing this number to 115 ahead of the next parliamentary elections.

END/RH/AJ