People's Party of Punjab (PPP) patron Sardara Singh Johl on Wednesday appealed to senior leader Bir Devinder Singh to reconsider his "hasty" decision to quit the party, even as he asked the PPP not to accept the resignation.
In a letter to Bir Devinder, Johl said he had gone through his letter to PPP president Manpreet Singh Badal. "I can very well appreciate the level of anguish in your heart. In my reckoning, you are a very valuable leader of the PPP. It is unfortunate that the whole controversy has emerged from shifting of the venue of a meeting from Chandigarh to Barnala," said Johl, former vice-chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala.
Johl said he was planning to convene a meeting of senior party leaders to sort various issues, but unfortunately the "eruption" occurred too early. "I request both of you (Bir Devinder and Manpreet) not to give statements any more. I have requested a meeting between the three of us to speak our heart out and then forget the past and proceed in unison. Through this mail, I suggest to Manpreet that a meeting may be fixed as early as possible, otherwise the Press is enjoying their bitter bites and the party image is getting a severe beating," Johl said in his communication to Bir Devinder.
Johl stated that he had also told PPP spokesman Arunjot Singh Sodhi that the party should not take any decision on Bir Devinder's resignation at this stage.
{{/usCountry}}Johl stated that he had also told PPP spokesman Arunjot Singh Sodhi that the party should not take any decision on Bir Devinder's resignation at this stage.
{{/usCountry}}Bir Devinder had criticised Manpreet's "autocratic" style of functioning and also accused him of not giving due respect to senior party leaders. In response, Manpreet had said that Bir Devinder's shelf life in any political party was short and it was probably time for him to leave the PPP. Following this, Bir Devinder submitted his resignation to Manpreet on Tuesday.