Vijayawada: Though separated, AP and Telangana should work like brothers and prosper together, said the Home minister of Telangana, Nayani Narsimha Reddy. He quoted Punjab and Haryana in this context which are forging ahead jointly. He visited the city on Wednesday to attend a programme in memory of his friend M.A. Rehman.

He described himself as the first Telangana minister to visit Vijayawada after the bifurcation. Reminding people of the fact that the people of the two states lived together for 56 years and separated due to the sentiments of the Telangana people, he stressed that they were all Telugus who should work in tandem for mutual development.

He said that neither TRS party nor Mr Rao had ever said “Andhraites go back” and that their fight was only against the exploiters of Telangana, not those who came for livelihood.

Mr Nayani assured full protection to Andhraites who are working or doing business in Hyderabad and other places in Telangana, which has been their party’s policy right from the beginning.

Although Mr Rao is very reciprocal and ready to work with Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu is just the opposite, he said. He urged the AP government to forget the past and put a full stop to actions that are against Telangana.

The aim of their KCR is to make Hyderabad number one city in the world and the whole of Telangana prosperous. To attain these aims the government has been working tirelessly.

Mr Rao is trying to make Telangana a corruption free and development oriented state committed to the welfare of all, he said. Various measures have been taken to ensure law and order in the state, he added.