The symbol allocation to candidates for the 12th parliamentary election was held on Monday, marking the official start of campaigning for the MP aspirants.
Right after getting their symbols, many candidates started campaigning on social media.
At the Segunbagicha Returning Officer's office, it was observed that the majority of candidates had their representatives collect their election symbols. Notably, actor Ferdous Ahmed personally attended the office to receive his election symbol, the boat.
The Awami League and its 14-party alliance are contesting the elections under the boat symbol. Meanwhile, candidates from the Jatiya Party were allocated their party symbol, the plough.
The Election Commission said that candidates from 30 registered political parties, including the Awami League, are set to participate in the elections scheduled for January 7.
Other major parties contesting the election are Jatiya Party (JaPa), Trinamool BNP, Bangladesh Supreme Party (BSP) and Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) which were formed ahead of the election.
The Trinamool BNP party was allocated the symbol of golden scales for the election. The Bangladesh Supreme Party (BSP) received the Ektara symbol. However, while the Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM)'s party symbol is an anchor, their specific election symbol remains unknown.
Additionally, various other parties received their symbols: the Islami Oikya Front got the Chair symbol, the Nationalist Oikya Front received the Television symbol, the Islami Oikya Jote got the Minar symbol, the National People's Party received the Mango symbol, the Bangladesh Congress got the Green Coconut symbol, the Bangladesh Sanskritic Muktijot received the Stick symbol, Gono Front was allotted the Fish symbol, the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSoD) got the Torch symbol, and the Workers Party of Bangladesh received the Hammer symbol.
Besides, independent candidates are allotted symbols through a lottery.
On Monday, during the symbol allotment for the upcoming election, candidates from these parties were not present. The Trinamool BNP had nominated candidates for 290 seats, but only 151 submitted their nomination papers, as per the Election Commission (EC) data. Out of these, 140 candidates remained after the withdrawal period on Sunday.
The exact number of candidates from the Bangladesh Supreme Party (BSP) and Bangladesh Nationalist Movement (BNM) who passed scrutiny is still unclear.
Meanwhile, election campaigning is gearing up following the distribution of symbols, with the campaign period starting from 12am onwards.
The Election Commission has reported that after the withdrawal of nominations, a total of 1,896 candidates are set to contest in the 12th national election across 300 constituencies.
