Even though most exit polls for the Karnataka assembly elections showed Congress as the favourite to win, the possibility of a fractured mandate is not far-fetched as the numbers indicate that the grand old party only has a slight edge over its rival BJP.
With that, the word horse trading is back in the spotlight again. In Karnataka, the term gained a lot of attention in 2019 when the Congress-JD(S) coalition government collapsed after 16 MLAs of the coalition resigned. Congress, then, accused the BJP of ‘heinous horse trading’.
The term was used by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently too. Addressing a rally in Belagavi days before the voting day, Gandhi requested the voters to give Congress a full majority so that the BJP can not indulge in horse trading.
With the results to be declared on May 13, here is a look at what horse trading means.
What is horse trading?
Horse trading as a term is self-explanatory. It is used to describe the business of selling and buying horses. Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines horse trading as, “the activity of discussing business with somebody using clever or secret methods in order to reach an agreement that suits you.”
According to an article in The Hindu, the phrase "indicates a hard bargaining of some kind."
According to the article, "the two bargaining parties show an understanding of the problem and the negotiations are done in a clever manner."
Further, "the term is typically used to show disapproval" in British English. It conveys the impression that the talks are informal. The implication is that in order to reach any kind of agreement, too many compromises have been made.
In India, ever since defections became a more mainstream part of politics, the word horse trading also started gaining currency.
It is seen as an unethical practice where a political party lures the member of its rival political party to ditch their party and join the other party so that they get the majority in the house and form the government. In simple terms, when a party poaches members from other parties to form a government, then the term horse trading can be used.
Congress has, in recent times, accused BJP of indulging in this practice. In the aftermath of Congress's government's collapse in Karnataka in 2019 and when the Kamal Nath-led government fell in Madhya Pradesh in 2020, the grand old party accused the saffron party of horse trading again.
It is usually done in times of hung assembly or when a party has only a marginal edge over its rivals.