Dhaka, 19th November 2025
Bangladesh's student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) has now become eligible for participating in the upcoming national polls, after the country's Election Commission greenlit their registration, recognising them as an official political party.
The announcement came when Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed that the commission had approved the registrations of both the NCP and the left-wing-communist faction, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist).
A gazette notification later stated that the NCP has been allocated the electoral symbol 'Shapla Koli' (water lily bud), Business Standard BD reported.
The decision marks a major milestone for the newly formed youth-led group, which seeks to position itself as an alternative to the country's two principal political parties, the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) and the now-banned Awami League — presenting itself as the voice of a new, youth-led generation.
Even before its EC registration, the NCP had already declared its intention to field candidates in all 300 constituencies in the February 2026 national election.
This comes after the NCP's Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary held a meeting with the country's Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin in Dhaka.
The NCP leader reportedly said that while the party had accepted the Shapla Koli symbol, it was critical of the EC's handling of the allocation. "We have accepted Shapla Koli… we have not yet received a clear explanation from the Election Commission.
"Considering their arbitrary behaviour, we cannot afford to remain stuck on the symbol. Our decision prioritises the greater interest," he told reporters. He further levied sharp criticism against the EC's alleged engineered decision-making.
"Many processes are engineered here rather than conducted fairly. We are fighting our battle within this system," the NCP leader remarked, and cautioned that arbitrary behaviour from the commission could persist.
Patwary has become a leading figure in Bangladesh over the past year and has drawn a lot of attention in recent weeks for his highly confrontational, militant rhetoric.
This is particularly underscored by his comments in the past week, where he warned that the NCP was prepared for either a "ballot revolution" or a "bullet revolution," depending on how the political situation evolves, further deteriorating the country's already unstable socio-political environment.
His remarks also further underline the marked political tensions among all the entities that had earlier collaborated with Chief Advisor Muhammed Yunus to overthrow the former Awami League-led government of PM Sheikh Hasina, as the former allies are now openly at odds with each other, trading accusations over the direction of reforms, election preparations and the legitimacy of state institutions.
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