The submission capped a two-month statewide campaign that the YSRCP called “people’s verdict” against the ruling TDP–Jana Sena–BJP coalition’s healthcare policies.
Published Dec 19, 2025 | 2:50 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 19, 2025 | 2:50 PM
Jagan Mohan Reddy flags off a long convoy of vehicles carrying sealed boxes of petitions. (X)
Synopsis: Calling the signature drive “historic and unprecedented”, Reddy said it reflected simmering public anger over what he described as the “quiet sell-off” of medical education infrastructure built with public money.
In a show of political muscle, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday, 18 December, submitted petitions bearing over one crore signatures to Andhra Pradesh Governor Abdul Nazeer, opposing the state government’s move to privatise government medical colleges.
The submission capped a two-month statewide campaign that the YSRCP called “people’s verdict” against the ruling TDP–Jana Sena–BJP coalition’s healthcare policies.
Jagan Mohan Reddy flagged off a long convoy of vehicles carrying sealed boxes of petitions from the party’s central office in Tadepalli to the Governor’s residence (Lok Bhavan) in Vijayawada , turning the exercise into a rolling political spectacle.
As the vehicles moved towards Amaravati, hundreds of party workers lined the route, raising slogans against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s administration and accusing it of dismantling public healthcare brick by brick.
Calling the signature drive “historic and unprecedented”, Reddy said it reflected simmering public anger over what he described as the “quiet sell-off” of medical education infrastructure built with public money.
The campaign traces its origins to the YSRCP government’s tenure between 2019 and 2024, when it embarked on an ambitious plan to establish 17 government medical colleges—one in each parliamentary constituency—to expand access to affordable medical education and healthcare.
Of these, seven colleges were completed, admissions commenced in five, and construction was underway on ten others when the YSRCP lost power in the 2024 Assembly elections.
YSRCP leaders allege that the new coalition government has since stalled the projects and is now attempting to hand them over to private players under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
Speaking to the media after submitting the petitions, Reddy launched a blistering attack on the Naidu government.
“This is the mother of all scams,” he said. “We have brought to the Governor’s notice the illegal actions of Chandrababu Naidu. We explained how privatising government medical colleges will severely harm the interests of the people of Andhra Pradesh.”
Reddy alleged that while the colleges were being transferred to private players, the government had also decided to bear the faculty salary burden—estimated at ₹120 crore—using public funds. “Is there a bigger scam than this?” he asked, warning that the YSRCP would soon initiate a legal battle against the government’s privatisation policy.
The campaign was formally announced on 7 October, 2025, with Reddy visiting Narsipatnam Medical College two days later to kick it off. From 10 October through November, YSRCP leaders conducted Rachabanda programmes—village- and town-level meetings—explaining the alleged consequences of privatisation and seeking voluntary public support.
Constituency-level rallies were held on 12 November and 10 December, followed by district-level programmes on 15 December that drew students, parents, doctors, intellectuals and civil society members.
Despite what the party claims were attempts by the government to obstruct the drive, the YSRCP says it collected 1,04,11,136 signatures, comfortably crossing the one-crore mark it had initially set for itself.
Party MLAs, MLCs, cadres and volunteers spearheaded the effort, with Reddy claiming participation from “every section of society” over the two-month period from 10 October to 10 December.
On Thursday morning, Reddy held consultations with senior party leaders at the YSRCP headquarters before ceremonially flagging off the petition convoy to Lok Bhavan in Vijayawada. Later in the evening, accompanied by senior leaders, he met Governor Abdul Nazeer and personally handed over the boxes of petitions, urging immediate intervention to halt the privatisation process.
Addressing party workers ahead of the flag-off, Reddy said, “Never in the country’s history has such a large-scale signature campaign taken place. This reflects the growing anger on the ground.” He demanded that the Naidu government “immediately roll back” the policy, calling it “daylight robbery of public healthcare”.
The TDP and its allies dismissed the campaign as a political stunt, questioning the authenticity of the signatures and arguing that the PPP model is consistent with recommendations of the Union government and Parliamentary Standing Committees.
With the battle lines drawn, the medical college privatisation issue is fast emerging as a flashpoint in Andhra Pradesh politics—one that could spill from the streets into the courts in the months ahead.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
