Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) M A Syed yesterday denied having commented on a mid-term election and termed the newspapers as a 'rumour industry'.

Some newspapers yesterday quoted Syed as telling the Election Commission officials to prepare for a mid-term election at an unscheduled meeting on Saturday.

"I did not make any comment which has been carried in some newspapers," Syed told newsmen at his office yesterday.

However, he said he would not send any rejoinder against the published news. "It (midterm election) is a matter for the government to decide," he said.

Syed was unhappy with the Election Commission Secretariat for issuing a press release claiming 'the UP polls have been running peacefully'.

At Saturday's meeting, Syed had reportedly said the EC press release "does not reflect actual polls situation across the country".

The CEC was also quoted as saying that the government was not properly helping the Election Commission to conduct the Union Parishad polls.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has decided to deploy paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in some places to avoid electoral violence.

The CEC yesterday had a meeting with some candidates of Union Parishad poll. The candidates briefed him about the situations at those places. It could not be immediately known in which places BDR would be deployed.