Telangana CM ‘Hitler’ remark triggers massive political row, BJP slams ‘dangerous Hitler-Emergency mindset’

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has sparked a massive political firestorm with his remarks at a media conclave in Bengaluru, where he claimed to have drawn “inspiration from Adolf Hitler” while naming the state’s anti-encroachment task force, Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA).

At a media summit in Bengaluru on Saturday, Reddy said that he chose the name HYDRAA because of the German dictator’s alleged fondness for the term.

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“So I have given HYDRA. HYDRA, the word is Hitler’s favourite word, HYDRA. His core team, called HYDRA who can assassinate anyone. So I have taken inspiration from Hitler, I have named as a HYDRA. I have established the organisation with a senior IPS officer. I have given 3,000 retired army people and others. Today, you ask anyone who can dare to encroach on any water body in my state or in my Hyderabad,” he said.

HYDRAA stands for the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency. It is a specialised task force set up by Reddy, in July 2024, to protect government lands, parks and lakes. It is known most prominently in the public imagination for carrying out demolitions.

BJP slams ‘dangerous Hitler-Emergency mindset’of the Congress CM

Reacting to the Telangana CM’s remarks, Union coal and mines minister G Kishan Reddy, in a post on X, said the Congress party’s “dangerous Hitler-Emergency mindset” was once again out in the open.

“Revanth Reddy is now openly boasting that Hitler inspired him to create HYDRAA and is comparing demolitions in Hyderabad to those in war-torn regions such as Iran and Israel, echoing the language of his leader Rahul Gandhi,” Kishan Reddy said.

He further alleged that “from the Emergency to Hitler, Congress has always muzzled people” and demanded that the chief minister tender an unconditional apology to the people of Telangana.

Reddy did not stop there. While highlighting HYDRAA’s work, he compared its demolition drives with the destruction caused by Israel in other countries, including Iran. Though he did not mention Gaza, Israel has carried out several strikes there that have destroyed buildings and affected civilian lives.

“I have demolished like anything. If you see the visuals from Iran, you can compare them with Israel or any such demolitions caused by war, and compare them with these demolitions carried out by HYDRAA,” he said.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also slammed the Telangana Chief Minister over his remarks, describing them as deeply divisive and out of touch with the reality of modern India’s representative democracy.

He remarked on the irony of such accusations, suggesting that if a leader from the ruling party were to use similar inflammatory rhetoric, it would be met with an outcry of “Nazism” or “Fascism” by the same political ecosystem.

He pointed out that while political critique is a pillar of democracy, the constant resort to such divisive and inflammatory language weakens the national fabric rather than strengthening the democratic process.

In a post on X, Rijiju said, “Waah… The Congress Chief Minister is absolutely inspired by Adolf Hitler! Imagine…. if a BJP Chief Minister said the same thing, the whole ecosystem would be screaming Nazism, Fascism and what not…”

Telangana chief minister asked, “Why? President of India from North India, Prime Minister of India North India? Because of we don’t have strength to show our political strength. So we don’t want to live like second grade citizens in Delhi paying taxes and saluting Delhi.”

With agency inputs