BJP trying to persuade Sharma to withdraw resignation

Hectic efforts are on to persuade Baikunth Lal Sharma 'Prem,' the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from East Delhi, to withdraw his resignation which he forwarded to Speaker Purno A Sangma on Monday.

''There is still time as the Speaker has not yet accepted the resignation,'' BJP vice-president Krishan Lal Sharma told reporters on Tuesday. ''We will do our best to persuade him to withdraw his resignation.''

Sharma, however, stuck to his decision, refusing to withdraw his resignation. After several senior BJP leaders called on him at his North Avenue home, the MP left his residence, in an obvious attempt to stave off such pressure.

Asked if there were reasons other than what had been mentioned by Sharma in his resignation letter for his decision, another party vice-president, former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana said, ''Mr Sharma is very sentimental and should not have taken this extreme step. East Delhi is a BJP-secured seat and he should not give it up like this.''

Even if Sharma was not very happy about some of his nominees not being given tickets for the Delhi municipal election, Khurana felt the MP could have conveyed his views to the party leadership, instead of resiging from the Lok Sabha.

Observers say the resignation is a consequence of the battle for control of the BJP's Delhi unit between Khurana and his successor, Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma. The BJP leadership is upset by the manner in which Sharma sent in his resignation to the Speaker, ignoring party president Lal Kishinchand Advani and leader of the BJP parliamentary party, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

However, no action against the MP is anticipated as Sharma continues to be the best bet for the BJP from the East Delhi constituency. Sharma wrested the seat from senior Congress leader H K L Bhagat.

He had earlier resigned as chairman of the Trans-Yamuna Development Board on 'health' grounds, but withdrew the resignation at Verma's instance.