jsp - equivalent of EL in jsp scriptlet

Question

What would be equivalent of the below code in simple scriptlet code:

<select name="dropdown">     
     <option value="one" ${param.dropdown == 'one' ? 'selected' : ''}>One</option>     
     <option value="two" ${param.dropdown == 'two' ? 'selected' : ''}>Two</option>     
     <option value="three" ${param.dropdown == 'three' ? 'selected' : ''}>Three</option>   
</select>

Answer 1

${param.dropdown == 'one' ? 'selected' : ''} could be replaced with:

<%= "one".equals(request.getParameter("dropdown")) ? "selected" : "" %>

Moving from EL to scriptlets seems like a backwards step.

Answer 2

searchOption field is what is getting returned as an attribute in servlet response.

So based on searchOption equals one or two or three, we want that particular option in the drop down get selected. So while rendering, we check the value in searchOption and using ?: we select the correct option.

<option value="one" <%= (searchOption.equals("one"))?"selected='selected'":"" %>>One</option>