Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu, who has been nurturing ambitions of making it big in politics, has been extensively touring different parts of Guntur district to get in touch with the people and understand their issues at the ground level.
There is a talk that he might be contesting the next Lok Sabha elections from Guntur parliamentary constituency.
Most likely, he is going to join the ruling YSR Congress party, which has apparently promised him the party ticket.
As part of his district tour, Rayudu on Monday came down to Amaravati villages to interact with the people there. He was accompanied by local YSR Congress party leaders.
As he came to Veerabhadra Swamy temple at Velagapudi, local farmers of Amaravati came there in good numbers to see him. So, he had to face the obvious question from them: What’s his stand on Amaravati.
The Amaravati farmers asked Rayudu to extend support to their agitation to retain Amaravati as the only capital to the state.
They told him that whenever Rayudu played for the country, they all prayed for him and wished that he would hit a century.
They asked him to support their demand for Amaravati and requested him to raise “Jai Amaravati” slogan.
This has obviously embarrassed Rayudu, as he is planning to join the YSRC, which is against Amaravati being the only capital of the state.
He tried to evade a direct answer to their demand. He told them that Amaravati would not go anywhere and it would continue to be a capital (rather than ‘the capital’).
When Amaravati farmers requested him to visit their dharna camp, Rayudu said he would definitely make it during his next visit and left the place in a huff.