Dissident BC Conservative members delivered a defiant response Tuesday to leader John Cummins’ demand that they either fall in line or quit the party.

The embattled party head issued his ultimatum Sunday, offering critics two days to decide whether to support him or leave.

But on Tuesday, two constituency association presidents rejected the orders in a public letter calling on Cummins to resign instead, “for the sake of the party.”

“The division that has occurred within the B.C. Conservatives has occurred under your watch,” wrote Allison Patton of Surrey-White Rock and Ariane Eckardt of Burnaby North. “This division has cost us our only sitting MLA and the possibility of having others who were ready to cross.”

In September, John van Dongen announced he was leaving the Conservatives to sit as an Independent in the legislature, just six months after crossing the aisle from the BC Liberals. He cited his own criticisms of Cummins as the primary force driving his departure.

Patton and Eckardt said they know of at least 20 constituency association presidents calling for Cummins to resign, despite a recent vote at the party’s annual general meeting that handily rejected a leadership review.

“We acknowledge your legitimate win at the AGM and given the manner in which it was organized, you could hardly lose,” Patton and Eckardt wrote. “Be that as it may, we too represent our CA’s [sic] and we too have a legitimate voice in all of this.”

In a statement issued Sunday, Cummins promised party members who resigned by the noon Wednesday deadline would have their membership fees and any financial donations made over the last year refunded.

The party leader and former Conservative MP for Delta-Richmond East declared he is “unwavering in my dedication to the BC Conservatives” and “not going anywhere,” while touting his party’s achievements since he took over in spring 2011.

The BC Conservatives surged in the polls over the last year, tying with the foundering Liberals in a number of popularity surveys, after spending years on the sidelines of the provincial political scene.

Party president Al Siebring also dismissed the dissidents as a “handful” of members who refuse to abide by the results of the AGM vote.