HYDRAA is inspired by Hitler, says Revanth Reddy

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy drew criticism after claiming HYDRAA was inspired by Adolf Hitler's alleged liking for the word 'Hydra', despite no historical evidence supporting the assertion. His remarks and comparisons involving demolitions triggered disbelief, controversy and political debate.

Hyderabad: In a curious display of remarkable political ineptitude, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy confessed to being inspired by German dictator Adolf Hitler in forming the dreaded HYDRAA – the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency in Telangana. The surprising confession came during his participation in a programme titled ‘The Hindu’s Huddle: India in Dialogue’ in Bengaluru on Saturday.

The rather inexplicable assertion that the word ‘Hydra’ was the favourite word of Adolf Hitler and that he had formed his core team named HYDRAA “which could assasin (sic) anyone” with inspiration from Hitler left many incredulous. The claim left many dumbfounded as there was no historical evidence of Hitler liking the word or using it at any time.

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Revanth Reddy told the audience that a senior IPS officer was appointed to head HYDRAA. His government has deployed 3,000 retired Army personnel and others to this task force. “Today ask anyone who can dare to encroach any water body in my State or in my Hyderabad. I demolished like anything. You go and google and you can see Iran and Israel or anything you can compare with those demolitions with these demolitions.”

It was not just the inappropriate comparison of HYDRAA demolitions to those carried out by Iran or Israel, but also his propensity to brush under the carpet the criticism against HYDRAA for its selective demolitions while ignoring blatant tank encroachments by a political party and palatial mansions built on tank shores by influential ruling party leaders, not to speak of the judicial criticism from the Telangana High Court.

The televised event forced many back in Telangana to reach out to their computers and Google-search ‘Hydra and Hitler’ and the results left many puzzled as there was no trace of any link between the two words, except the mention that “Hydra was a fictional totalitarian terrorist organisation …depicted as a radical scientific branch of Nazi Germany led by the Red Skull and Baron von Strucker.”

On the State’s financial constraints, Revanth Reddy said Telangana restructured debt worth Rs.26,000 crore last year. The government has set a target of restructuring Rs.50,000 crore this year. He said the restructuring of Rs.26,000 crore enabled the State to secure an additional Rs.4,000 crore annually. According to him, reducing interest rates and extending repayment periods to 20 to 25 years created additional fiscal space for the government.

“If Rs.2 lakh crore debt restructuring is achieved with lower interest rates and longer tenure, it can provide some relief for the government as it cannot charge more,” he said.

Need to play friendly matches

To another question on his State competing with Congress-ruled Karnataka to attract investments, Revanth Reddy said, “Same teams play friendly matches and sometimes I have to play friendly matches.”

On GST collections, the Chief Minister said there were 100 flaws in the GST system. However, neither the Central government nor State governments had focused on addressing them. He said financial expert Arvind Subramaniam had been appointed as an adviser. GST collections, which had not crossed Rs.3,500 crore a month in the previous seven years, had exceeded Rs.4,000 crore in each of the last four months, he said. “Last month, we achieved an additional collection of Rs.1,100 crore without increasing tax rates. We arrested leakages and fixed frauds. This is how we are improving our resources,” he said.

The Chief Minister also criticised the Central government, alleging discrimination against Telangana. He claimed that after Telangana and other States completed groundwork to attract investments, the Central government intervened at the final stage and directed companies to invest in Gujarat while assuring them of all necessary clearances. “This is the new phenomenon we are facing,” he said.