Bengaluru: After marathon meetings with party leaders, AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal has sent out a clear message to the party men by saying “Bury the hatchet if you want to retain power.”

“If the party is united and if the workers are united, then people will stand by us. Our mantra is,  Be united and retain power in Karnataka,” he told Congress leaders yesterday.

In an effort to bring in confidence and unity among the party’s rank and file, he asked the senior leaders and legislators to refrain from criticising the Congress leadership or the Chief Minister. “We will not tolerate any criticism against the government. You wait and see. We will take action against leaders who criticise the government,” he warned.

“There are some differences of opinion among the leaders in some places. We have discussed those issues threadbare and put in place a mechanism to resolve them,” he stated.

Venugopal said that District-level Co-ordination Committees have been formed to find solutions to the problems. The committees will meet regularly and try to iron out all differences. All the leaders have been told that it is very important for the party to win the 2018 elections. Besides, directions have been issued to them on measures to be taken to strengthen the party in the next nine months, he added.

To strengthen the organisation at the grass-roots level, the AICC General Secretary told KPCC President Dr. G. Parameshwara to reorganise Booth-level Committees before June 30. “No leader should make any statement against the leadership or the party. Problems, if any, should be reported to us. We are here to find solutions,” he said.

Terming BJP’s charges against the government as “baseless”, he challenged the BJP to come for a public debate on the performance of Siddharamaiah Government. “We can challenge the performance of the Congress government in Karnataka with that of the BJP governments in any State. We are ready for an open debate,” Venugopal said.

He accused the State BJP of staging a drama to appease Dalits. “Dalits are being targeted in all BJP-ruled States and the saffron party leaders in Karnataka are, however, showing love towards Dalits and an instance to prove this, State BJP leaders having hotel breakfast at Dalits’ houses,” he said.