Dr Chintalapudi Ashok Kumar: the doctor rebuilding YSRCP’s ground game in Addanki

In a constituency where the YSR Congress Party has lost the last two elections, Dr Chintalapudi Ashok Kumar is trying a different approach: showing up in villages and hospitals between elections, not only during them.

Who is Chintalapudi Ashok Kumar

Dr Ashok Kumar is a medical doctor from neighbouring Palnadu district. The YSRCP leadership appointed him the party’s in-charge for Addanki, a seat it last won in 2014, when its candidate was Gottipati Ravi Kumar, now the TDP’s Energy Minister, giving the constituency a new face as the party rebuilds after its 2024 defeat.

His work in Addanki

Public health has been the thread running through his work. In early September he inspected the Addanki government hospital, speaking to patients and new mothers about the care they were receiving and calling for better facilities in government hospitals.

Later that month he publicly accused the state government of mishandling the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and of weakening Aarogyasri by holding back payments to network hospitals, and demanded an audit. The government has not accepted those allegations.

He has also taken up local civic issues, including leading a protest in Addanki over the condition of roads, and has called for an impartial inquiry into an incident at Sankhavarappadu. Since September he has been preparing party workers for the local-body elections, telling a party meeting that the YSRCP would contest in every village, and he is now leading ward-level campaigning for the Addanki municipal polls.

His biggest outreach so far: the Kundurru health camp

His most significant single effort came last month at Kundurru village in Santhamaguluru mandal. He arrived with his full medical team, and patients from the village and nearby hamlets were examined through the day. Many were elderly people and daily-wage families, for whom a trip to Addanki or Ongole for a consultation means a lost day’s wages.

Patients were given their medicines free after the check-ups. The organisers put the total value of the medicines distributed at more than Rs 5 lakh. The party’s village leaders organised the camp and served meals to the medical staff and patients.

Looking ahead

Party workers say this steady, on-the-ground work is what the YSRCP lacked in Addanki after its last two defeats. YSRCP workers say Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar, busy with his portfolio, is seen less often in the villages; TDP leaders reject that and point to development works under way.

The task is large. Gottipati has won Addanki four times in a row, and his margin in 2024 was 24,890 votes. But YSRCP workers believe that if Dr Ashok Kumar keeps up this pace, village by village, the 2029 election will be a real contest.

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