Sarjis Alam, Chief Organiser of the National Citizens' Party (NCP) for the Northern Region, has warned that his party will take political action if they are not allocated their desired electoral symbol, the ‘Shapla’ (Water Lily). He also raised concerns over the neutrality and transparency of the Election Commission (EC).
Speaking at a coordination meeting of the Dinajpur district unit of the NCP, held at the Shilpakala Academy on Sunday, Alam questioned the legal grounds on which the EC could deny the party the ‘Shapla’ symbol.
Citing legal experts, Alam claimed there is no legal barrier to allocating the symbol to the NCP. He criticised the EC's delay in processing the application, stating, “We applied for registration as a political party and requested the ‘Shapla’ symbol on the same day. Why has the EC not finalised the symbol list in all these months?”
He further accused the EC of irresponsibility and hinted that external influence may be preventing them from taking a fair decision. “An Election Commission that cannot allocate our rightful symbol cannot be trusted to conduct a free and fair election,” he said. “We will contest the election with the ‘Shapla’ symbol — nothing else.”
On a separate note, Sarjis Alam said the interim government should apologise for the recent attack on July fighters. He also stressed that the July Accord must have a legal basis and be implemented with guarantees.
The meeting was chaired by Dinajpur District Coordinator Faisal Karim Sohel and attended by Central Joint Convenor Dr Atik Mojahid, Joint Chief Coordinator Abdul Ahad, and local leaders including Ekramul Haque, Abir, and Rezaul Karim.
