Tuesday, July 5 2005 12:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Hyderabad: Hours after the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) pulled out of the government in Andhra Pradesh, the war of words intensified within the ruling combine with Congress terming its embattled ally's move as 'political gimmick' and asserted that it would not tolerate any personal attack on Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

"It is unfortunate that after remaining silent for 13 months, the TRS leaders are now opposing the government's policies and making personal attack on Chief Minister.They are using the so called neglect of Telangana as a cover to gain political mileage," Congress legislators from Telangana region Chinna Reddy, D Sridhar Babu, Indrakaran Reddy and K Venkat Reddy told reporters here.

Attacking TRS with a new element of stridency, the Congress leaders took objection to TRS Ministers directly meeting the Governor to submit their resignation without even informing the Chief Minister and following "democratic decency." Asserting that Telangana statehood issue was now in the court of Congress High Command, they said all possible efforts were being taken to build a political consensus for creation of separate state even while making sincere efforts to develop the backward region.

"At a time when efforts on Telangana have reached a crucial stage, it is unfortunate that TRS has chosen to walk out of the government. What is more disturbing is that they have suddenly started hurling personal abuses of Chief Minister. This is not acceptable," the Congress leaders said.

Charging the TRS with resorting to "anti-democratic behaviour", they urged the party high command to accept the resignations of five TRS Ministers and repeal their criticism of the government's policies.

Meanwhile, the main opposition TDP dubbed the resignation as yet another instance of "political opportunism" of TRS and said the people would teach the party a fitting lesson.

"The TRS has been cheating people all along. This is yet another dreams and political opportunism from the beginning, we have been saying that Congress and TRS coming together is an unholy and opportunistic alliance," the Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party (TDPP) leader K Yerran Naidu told reporters in Hyderabad.