He was elected the Member of the Legislative Assembly from Repalle constituency during 1989–94, and later served as the chairman of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation during 2005–09.

[3] In the 1989 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections from Repalle constituency, he contested as a Congress party candidate and won as the MLA.

[7] After the death of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from Congress who died in a helicopter crash in September 2009,[8] his son Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy went on an odarpu yatra, a consolation tour during which he visited families supposedly affected by the death of his father, against the wishes of Congress party's High Command.

[17][18] In September 2011, Telugu news channel ABN Andhra Jyothi broadcast a sting operation on Ambati where he was alleged to have allured a woman over phone for sexual favours.

[19][20] He obtained a temporary injunction from Andhra Pradesh High Court against the channel, restricting it from broadcasting any content defaming him.

[23] He contested the 2014 elections as the YSRCP candidate from Sattenapalle constituency and lost to Kodela Siva Prasada Rao of TDP.

[9][3] In April 2022, he was inducted into the Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's cabinet and was allocated the Ministry of Irrigation (Water Resources) portfolio, replacing Anil Kumar Poluboina.