Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP) has accused the Election Commission (EC) of making arbitrary decisions after it was denied its preferred electoral symbol ‘shapla’.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday following a meeting with EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed at Nirbachan Bhaban, NCP’s southern region chief organiser Hasnat Abdullah expressed deep dissatisfaction with EC’s stance.

“We’ve observed that Election Commission is taking arbitrary decisions,” said Hasnat, adding that the Commission failed to provide any legal reasoning for denying ‘shapla’ symbol.

He further stated that the party had no alternative symbol in mind.

“We’ve said from the beginning that it seems like institutional autocracy is being established. The EC`s actions are beginning to resemble the behaviour of medieval monarchs,” he added.

Hasnat criticised the EC for its lack of transparency, saying there are no clear policies on how symbols are selected or excluded from the official list.

“There’s no guideline explaining why ‘shapla’ was excluded or how other parties received their symbols over time,” he said.

The NCP leader also alleged that the Commission’s decisions appear to be influenced by external forces.

“It has become clear to us that the EC’s decisions are being imposed from elsewhere. The remote control of this Commission isn’t in Agargaon; it’s being operated from outside,” he claimed.

Hasnat suggested that the EC officials themselves seem powerless in the matter.

“Whenever we speak to them, it’s clear the decision is not theirs. They are being compelled to follow instructions,” he said.

The controversy began on September 30 when the EC sent a letter to NCP with a list of 50 reserved symbols, asking the party to choose from the list by October 7; excluding ‘shapla’.

In response, NCP reiterated its demand for ‘shapla’, submitting several design variations including a red and a white version of the symbol.

On October 9, a three-member NCP delegation led by Chief Coordinator Nasir Uddin Patwary met Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, stressing once again that they would not accept registration without ‘shapla’.

“We’ve made it clear: NCP will not take registration without shapla. We’ll wait for a month,” Patwary said following the meeting.

Adding to the competition for the symbol, Bangladesh Congress has also recently requested the EC to grant them ‘shapla’, which they claim to have been denied during their registration six years ago.

Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Nasir Uddin clarified that Nagorik Oikya, led by Mahmudur Rahman Manna, had first applied for the symbol before NCP.

Manna later stated that while his party would protest if NCP was given the symbol, they would not take legal action.