The Election Commission has added ‘water lily bud’-- ‘shapla koli’ IN Bangla -- to its list of designated election symbols.
But the National Citizen Party dismissed the decision, vowing to contest the polls only with the water lily symbol and refusing to compromise on its demand.
The inclusion of water lily bud in the EC list was announced through a gazette notification issued on Thursday, signed by the EC senior secretary Akhtar Ahmed.
According to the revised schedule, 20 new symbols were added while 16 dropped from the previous list of 115.
The newly added symbols include camel, comb, torchlight, table lamp, tractor, dressing table, lock, double-decker bus, turban, water tap, palanquin, fruit basket, baby taxi, electric bulb, motorcycle, staircase, sunflower, railway engine, and handshake.
The dropped symbols are banana, cot, ostrich, charger light, tiffin carrier, drum, watermelon, refrigerator, flute, bench, brinjal, balloon, bottle gourd, conch shell, suitcase, and flower pot.
The gazette said that the decision was made under the authority of Article 94 of the Representation of the People Order, 1972, as part of a broader amendment to the Election Conduct Rules, 2008.
The revised provision allows candidates—subject to the availability of symbols and in accordance with clause 20—to be allocated any listed symbol, excluding those that are currently suspended.
Earlier, the EC had published a list of 115 election symbols that did not include water lily, despite repeated appeals from the NCP, which had sought the symbol since applying for registration.
Following the announcement, the NCP, however, rejected the newly added water lily bud, insisting instead on the water lily symbol.
‘We have always said that the NCP wants water lily. The NCP will contest the election with the water lily symbol,’ said NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary at an event.
On the question of the water lily symbol, the NCP remains uncompromising and will not give up even an inch of concession in this regard,’ he asserted. Â
Nasiruddin also urged the Election Commission to accept the NCP’s right to the water lily symbol, warning that if it continued its political game his party would stage peaceful protests outside the commission office to demand the resignation of its officials.
Earlier in the week, EC officials had clarified that the water lily symbol could not be allotted to the NCP as it was not included in the previous official list of symbols.