Telangana CM links ‘Hydra’ to Hitler, but the word has more to do with myths and comics than history

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy recently stated that the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) drew its name and concept from German dictator Adolf Hitler’s “fondness for the word Hydra”.

Under the Congress government, the agency has been responsible for demolishing unauthorised structures. Reddy said on Saturday (June 6), “Hydra, the word is Hitler’s favourite word. His core team was called Hydra, which could assassinate anyone. So, I have taken inspiration from Hitler and named it HYDRAA.”

The Opposition BJP and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) criticised the comments, calling them representative of his “dictatorial” mindset. Others pointed out that Hitler and Hydra do not have a direct historical link, and Reddy may have mistaken it for events depicted in the popular Marvel superhero films that feature a fictional organisation called Hydra.

Origins of Hydra, popularity in comics

In Greek mythology, “Hydra” is the name of a multi-headed snake-like monster. Cutting any of its heads would result in two new heads emerging in its place.

Hercules, the son of the powerful Zeus (also known as the king of the gods), eventually slays the Hydra by enlisting the help of his nephew, Iolaus. He sets fire to each neck to cauterise the wounds as Hercules decapitates the monster. Over time, “Hydra” has become a metaphor for a problem that multiplies when one tries to solve it.

While there is nothing to show that Hitler had a “core team” called Hydra, the word finds some mention in his autobiography, Mein Kampf. He wrote in the context of Alsace-Lorraine, a region ceded by Germany to France after World World 1 (1914-18): “Instead of crushing the head of the French hydra once and for all… and granting Alsace-Lorraine equal rights with the other German States, they did neither…” Here, he was criticising the German Empire.

In another instance, in line with a prevalent anti-Semitic stereotype, he spoke of an “international Jewish finance” subjugating the world. Hitler wrote that “If our people and our State should fall victims to these oppressors of the nations, lusting after blood and money, the whole earth would become the prey of that hydra.” He added that Italy, another Axis power, would also soon advance “without paying any attention to the hissing of the Jewish world-hydra.”

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Notably, during World War 2 (1939-45), “Operation Hydra” was a Royal Air Force bomb raid on the German weapons development facility at Peenemünde in 1943.

But Hydra, as an organisation of ruthless killers, only exists in the Marvel comics. “There is no terrorist organization more malevolent, nor influential, than Hydra. Having some of the most evil villains in history among its ranks, Hydra has been wreaking havoc around the globe since World War II,” its website says.

The comics’ lore connects Hydra to some real-world events, locating its origin in World War II with the fictional Nazi agent Wolfgang von Strucker as its founder. The group has “Hail Hydra” as its slogan, similar to Nazi Germany’s “Heil Hitler”, and features prominently in the Captain America movies.

Telangana’s HYDRAA

HYDRAA has found itself at the centre of controversy time and again.

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In July 2024, Reddy replaced the Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management (EVDM) wing of the government with HYDRAA, a body mandated to tackle illegal encroachment on water bodies in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits and surrounding areas.

Its strength was upgraded from around 800 to 2,200 and its officials came directly under the principal secretary, municipal administration and urban development or the CM himself.

But it has also invited criticism. The Telangana High Court expressed strong displeasure over its functioning the same year, comparing some of its demolition activities to a “war-like situation” which “cannot be countenanced.” The court expressed disbelief that it demolished a nearly 100-year-old structure at 4 am without any prior notice.

That year, the agency demolished a part of a 10-acre N-Convention Centre owned by popular Tollywood actor Nagarjuna in the Cyberabad area of Hyderabad. It alleged that 1.12 acres of the structure encroached upon the Full Tank Level (FTL) or the buffer zone of the Thammidi Kunta Lake. The actor denied the allegations.

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The BRS has alleged that the Congress government is using Hydra to target the properties of political opponents while ignoring the “encroached” properties of their leaders.