In Bharatiya Janata Party’s record-breaking in Gujarat, the Aam Aadmi Party has tested itself to a fairly good success in terms of a voting percentage, if not the number of seats it claimed. As election data says, AAP dented the Congress more than the BJP. The AAP effect was bigger in the rural parts whereas it did not do much harm to the BJP’s urban vote bank. It was contrary to the expectations of the experts. But it did happen and heralds a new beginning for the AAP that was essentially seen as an urban party; though it had broken such a belief in Punjab where rural seats are more than the urban.

One in many 

That brings us to a question whether the AAP will be able to create a space for itself in Maharashtra where the local body polls are slated to be held soon next year, and the general and Assembly elections in 2024. In Maharashtra, the urban and rural population is almost the same.