Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty adds to criticism on Karnataka govt hiring BCG as consultant

Bengaluru: Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty joined voices from the Opposition BJP in criticising the Siddaramaiah administration’s decision to appoint consultancy major Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a consultant to help augment revenues.

BCG is the finance department’s consultant to “unlock” budget potential. The firm is reportedly getting paid ₹9.5 crore for six months.

“If one wins elections by outsourcing core political functions to external fee charging transactional consultants, then one also governs by outsourcing core policy functions to similar consultants!” Chakravarty said in a tweet. He heads the Professionals’ Congress.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka has questioned the appointment of BCG, which he said is at taxpayers’ expense.

“What is the need of the BCG when a self-proclaimed economist like Siddaramaiah is the CM?” Ashoka said. “Not sure whether it will boost the revenues of the state government, but it will definitely boost the revenues of private consultancy firm (sic) at the cost of Karnataka's tax payers,” he added.

BJP state president BY Vijayendra slammed the Congress government for the “outrageous” move to hire a “foreign” consultant. “This is akin to handing over the reins to the East India Company!” he said.

“When the state government operates under the directions of an external agency, the welfare of the people takes a backseat, and innocent citizens are the ones who suffer!” Vijayendra said.