Hyderabad: After quitting the ruling YSRCP within 10 days of joining the party, former cricketer Ambati Rayudu met Jana Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday, January 10.
Post the meeting, Rayudu said that the JSP chief’s ideology and vision are very similar to his ideas and he is “very glad to have met him.”
The former cricketer also said that the ideologies of YSRCP and his own, “didn’t align for some reasons.”
“I have come into politics to serve the people of Andhra Pradesh with pure intentions and heart. I have joined ysrcp and I believed I could fulfill my vision. I have been on the ground and have visited many villages and met many people and understood their problems and I have done my best to solve them personally and I have done a lot of social work. Due to some reasons and I have not seen myself fulfilling my dream going forward with ysrcp. No blames. My ideology and ysrcp’s ideologies have not aligned and it has definitely nothing to do with contesting elections and x and y seat. I have decided to move on from politics. My well-wishers and close friends and family have asked me to meet Pavan anna once before making that decision to understand his ideologies. I have met Pavan anna and spent a lot of time discussing life and politics and understanding him. I am very happy to say his ideology and vision is very similar to mine and I am very glad to have met him. I will be taking off to Dubai for my cricket commitments. I will always be there and stand for the people of Andhra Pradesh,” he said in a post on X.
This comes months ahead of the state Assembly polls and the Lok Sabha polls that are to be held in early 2024.
“This is to inform everyone that I have decided to quit the YSRCP Party and stay out of politics for a little while Further action will be conveyed in due course of time. Thank You,” Ambati Rayudu posted on X.
Rayudu announced his retirement from cricket in 2023 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
It was in April this year that the stylish middle-order batsman, who played 55 ODIs and six T20 internationals for India between 2013 and 2019, had decided to enter politics, saying he wanted to serve the people.
He also appeared in 190 matches for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Rayudu was one of the rebel players who latched on to the opportunity to play for the now-scrapped Indian Cricket League (ICL), before accepting a domestic amnesty offer from the BCCI and entering the IPL.
Rayudu announced his retirement from the IPL in May this year after CSK won the title.
