“I will make a concrete plan for how I will run for office,” says Ambati Rayudu, who is starting a new career in politics to help people.

Ambati Rayudu, an Indian cricket player from the state of Andhra Pradesh, said on June 28 that he would be entering politics. The 37-year-old former cricket player played his last game for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League finals on May 29. Since then, he has been touring his home area, Guntur, where he grew up.

During his visit to Mutluru village in the Vatticherukuru block of the district, Rayudu said that he plans to run for office in Andhra Pradesh to help the people. Before that, he plans to spend a lot of time in different parts of the district to find out how people feel and what their problems are.

Ambati Rayudu said that he wanted to learn about the needs of the people in the rural parts of Guntur and figure out how he could help meet those needs.

Hindustan Times reported that Ambati Rayudu said, “I will make a concrete plan for how I will run for office and decide which platform to support.”

When asked about rumours that he might run for the Lok Sabha in 2024 from either the Guntur or Machilipatnam parliamentary constituencies, the player said that those rumours were false.

Ambati Rayudu went to the Mulankareshwari temple in Aminabad village and said special prayers there. In Phirangipuram, he also went to the Sai Baba Temple and the Bala Yesu Church. During his time in Mutlur village, Rayudu talked to kids at a local school and ate with them. He used the chance to find out about the problems that kids face in schools.

Rayudu hasn’t said what party he belongs to yet, but his posts on social media have led to rumours that he might join the YSR Congress, which is run by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. On April 19, Rayudu praised the statement that Andhra Pradesh’s chief minister gave in Naupada, Srikakulam district, on Twitter. He wrote, “Our leader, @ysjagan garu, gave a great speech. “Sir, everyone in the state trusts you completely.”

After Chennai Super Kings won the IPL 2023, Ambati Rayudu and the rest of the CSK managers met with the chief minister. He told me,

“Had a productive talk with the honourable CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy garu, the respected Rupa mam, and the CSK management. We talked about building world-class sports facilities and giving poor people access to schooling. The government is making plans for a strong programme for our state’s young people.”

Rayudu took a shot at N. Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the opposition Telugu Desam Party, by implying that building a building for an IT business in a certain place was not real development.

When asked about his trip to the Guntur district, Rayudu said that he had already met the chief minister, but that they had not talked about politics. He stressed that he wouldn’t decide which platform to run on until he had been to every village and town in Guntur.