NCP agrees on ‘Shapla Koli’ electoral symbol, backs away from ‘Shapla’ demand

The party has formally informed the Election Commission of its decision

The National Citizen Party, formed by young leaders who spearheaded the July Uprising, has agreed to take ‘Shapla Koli’ as its election symbol -- backing away from its earlier insistence on securing the Shapla logo.

The decision was announced on Sunday after a meeting with the chief election commissioner (CEC) at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka.

NCP’s Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary said, “The National Citizen Party has submitted letters to the Election Commission requesting Shapla, Shada Shapla, and Shapla Koli as potential symbols.”

He added, “If Shapla Koli is allocated, the NCP will accept it. Our grassroots have responded positively to the Koli symbol.”

The EC, in view of the next parliamentary elections, decided to register two parties, including the NCP. For the NCP, the EC initially allowed them until Oct 7 to select a symbol from the 50 symbols listed in the schedule.

Although the party remained adamant on the Shapla symbol, the EC also consistently maintained that the logo could not be assigned due to not being part of the official list.

Amid this stalemate, NCP leaders issued a warning that they would launch a movement against the EC if their symbol of choice was not awarded.

Faced with the party’s insistence and threat of street protests, the EC added four new symbols to the list on Thursday, including the Shapla Koli.

In an immediate reaction, NCP Joint Secretary Zahirul Islam Musa told bdnews24.com: “The NCP wants Shapla. When we asked for it earlier, the EC said, ‘It’s not in the list, so it cannot be given’. Now they have included Shapla Koli -- how that got listed needs to be clarified.”

On questions about backing away from their original insistence on the Shapla symbol, Patwari said: “We can call this an engineering by the commission. There’s a lot of engineering going on here. We are continuing our fight within this framework and, in that context, we are taking the Shapla Koli and applying for it.”

He added: “We will adopt Shapla Koli. You may notice we are still referring to it as Shapla, but we have not received a clear explanation yet. Given the EC’s arbitrary behaviour, we had to consider the larger interest and make this decision.”