Most parties ready to accept Speaker`s decision: Congress

New Delhi: Sticking to its stand on discussion on FDI in retail without a vote, Congress on Monday said most political parties were ready to accept the decision of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on the issue.

"One heartening outcome of the all-party meeting was that most political parties were ready to accept the decision of the Speaker on the rule under which the discussion on FDI should take place," Congress spokesman Sandeep Dikshit said. He said BJP and its allies and also Left parties were still insisting on having a discussion on FDI under Rule 184, which entails voting. "If any party wants to score political points by disregarding rules of Parliamentary procedure, then I would humbly request them to follow the Parliamentary traditions," Dikshit said. He contended that only those matter that were in the purview of Parliament were discussed under Rule 184 and followed by a vote and all other issues were discussed under Rule 193. To questions on whether the Congress was apprehensive about a vote on the FDI issue, Dikshit said "neither are we afraid nor do we face any risk. We firmly believe that FDI is good for the people." He admitted that the DMK had some reservations on multi- brand retail but the same would be addressed in the meeting of the UPA constituents. "One thing is clear that 300-325 MPs have favoured a discussion but left it to the Speaker to decide under which rule the discussion has to be held," Dikshit said. PTI