Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has sparked a major political controversy after stating that he drew inspiration from Adolf Hitler while naming the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA). Speaking at a conclave organised by a national English daily in Bengaluru on Saturday, the Telangana Chief Minister said, “The whole country is discussing the HYDRAA drive undertaken by the Telangana government. HYDRAA is Hitler’s favourite word. I have taken inspiration from Hitler and named the agency HYDRAA.”
Established in 2024, HYDRAA is a state government agency tasked with protecting public land, lakes, and government assets in Hyderabad from encroachments. The body is currently headed by IPS officer AV Ranganath and has been credited by the government with reclaiming large tracts of encroached land.
The Chief Minister’s remarks drew swift criticism from the BJP. Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla questioned whether senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would take action against Reddy.
In a post on X, Poonawalla wrote that Reddy was “openly boasting” about drawing inspiration from Hitler, calling it reflective of a “tanashahi mindset” and linking it to past actions of the Congress, including the The Emergency India 1975.
Union Minister and Secunderabad MP G Kishan Reddy also criticised the remarks, alleging that the Congress has historically suppressed public voices. In his response, he referenced the Emergency period and accused the party of maintaining an authoritarian approach.
Amid the controversy, Reddy also outlined his government’s ambitious economic and urban development plans for Telangana. He stated that the state aims to become a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 through a structured regional development model.
According to the plan, the 160-km Outer Ring Road region has been classified as CURE (Core Urban Region Economy), the area between the Outer Ring Road and the proposed Regional Ring Road as FUR (Peri-Urban Region), and the areas beyond as RARE (Rural Agriculture Region).
The Chief Minister said the government is focusing on building a Net Zero City within the CURE zone and has waived taxes on electric vehicles in the region to promote sustainable mobility, despite an estimated annual revenue loss of Rs 2,000 crore.
He further announced plans to develop a “Bharat Future City” across 30,000 acres in the FUR zone and attract 500 Fortune companies. Highlighting connectivity challenges due to Telangana’s landlocked geography, Reddy said discussions have been held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to build a 12-lane highway linking Telangana to Machilipatnam port.
Reddy also emphasized that Telangana aims to compete globally with countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea, positioning itself as part of the “China Plus One” strategy.
On social issues, the Chief Minister highlighted steps taken to address caste discrimination, including the establishment of Young India Integrated Schools and the completion of a caste census in Telangana—the first such exercise since 1931. He also noted that Scheduled Caste classification has been implemented in the state following a Supreme Court verdict.
Also read: Holidays extended across schools of T'gana districts
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