Three-and-a-half years ago, Telugu news channels dedicated sufficient time discussing the health tracker ring worn by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo, then opposition leader and incumbent Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. A simple, no-nonsense platinum band, it went well with his signature beige attire. At that point in July 2022, the TDP chief was touring Chittoor, his home district. 

“Many such devices have come to the market to help people maintain a healthy lifestyle. It is my appeal to all TDP functionaries to take care of your health by using such gadgets,” he had said.

The anecdote isn’t out of character for the TDP chief. Since coming to power in 1995 and four subsequent chief ministerships, Naidu has always been the disciplined, hard-as-nails pro-tech voice synonymous with business, and broadly a science-first approach. So it came as a surprise to many when his government passed an order in December 2025 allowing Ayurveda doctors to perform surgeries.

TNM spoke to activists, looked at recent legislation and data, and changes in Andhra’s health policy to see how the TDP and its top leader have merged a pro-tech persona with alternative medicinal systems such as Ayurveda. Naidu has in fact been supportive of Ayurveda and herbal medicine for years now, since the bifurcation of the Telugu states. The key difference now is an increased spending on Ayurveda and a drastic shift in Andhra’s healthcare policy. 

Ayurveda as an important health component

The December 23 announcement came from Health, Family Welfare and Medical Education minister Satya Kumar Yadav. An ardent member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and a protege of former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Satya Kumar is the only Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader to hold a post in Naidu’s current cabinet. 

Ayurvedic students are allowed to perform 58 types of surgeries, which include 39 Shalya Tantra (general surgery) procedures and 19 Shalakya Tantra (disease of eye, ear, nose, throat, head or dentistry) procedures.

While the Health Department’s press release relied on the Indian Medicine Central Council (PG Ayurveda Education) Amendment Regulations, 2020, the rules have been under sustained criticism since they were notified five years ago. Health activists, bureaucrats, and doctors, including those from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), have opposed the move. Andhra Pradesh remains the only state to have permitted Ayurveda doctors to perform surgery, something even BJP-led states have so far refrained from.

“We need to remember that it is not a TDP government in Andhra Pradesh right now. It’s a TDP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government,” Andhra Pradesh’s former health secretary PV Ramesh told TNM in an earlier interview. Ramesh, who had worked with the TDP in 2014 as Andhra’s principal finance secretary, spoke about how “the nationalist idea of health with Ayurveda as an important component and pivot to privatised hospital care has gained........

© newslaundry