A meeting was held on the allocation of kula (winnowing fan) after the High Court directed Divisional Commissioner Mostak Ahmed, also returning officer for Dhaka, to reconsider his previous decision.

Bikalpa Dhara candidate Abdul Mannan, who resigned from parliament on March 10 in protest at what he said was the ruling coalition's failure to run the country, rejected his election symbol "bench" and lodged a writ petition with the High Court.

The returning officer refused to allocate kula to Mannan as he did not recognise Bikalpa Dhara as a political party.

Election officials will convey the unchanged decision to the High Court today. "According to the election law, we don't have scope to change our previous decision, " Deputy Election Commissioner (Dhaka) Abul Kashem told The Daily Star after the meeting.

The symbol, kula, was allocated to the independent candidate by lottery, as several candidates demanded the same symbol.