AAP becomes national party:
what could be its journey ahead?

After 2019, it has no Lok Sabha MP presently. Despite that, it has remarkably increased its tally in Rajya Sabha after Punjab Mega win. Undoubtedly, it is true that 2022 has been a watershed year for the AAP. It succeeded in Punjab and defeated the BJP in the recent High-Stakes Elections of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which has triggered the debates asking whether AAP can become the primary opponent of the BJP in national politics and whether it can be a Modi vs. Kejriwal grand battle in 2024 Lok Sabha elections?

Experts say that AAP's support among the Dalits and the Muslims is declining in Delhi, as witnessed in recent MCD elections. It asks whether there is a space for two Hindutva parties in the Indian Political Space. And, will this center-to-right or bipolar ideological approach put forward by AAP be unsuccessful in the current Indian Political Scenario?

Despite Big claims, the AAP won only five assembly seats in Gujarat and lost its deposit in many seats. It fared even more miserably in Himachal Pradesh, where most of its candidates lost their deposits. Earlier, AAP could not do any better in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Bihar. In 2023, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Tripura, Meghalaya, Karnataka, and Nagaland are going to the polls. Whether AAP can gain the support of Dalits and Muslims in these primary stats remains a big question.

The people seem happy with its Government's people-centric approach, such as its focus on basic amenities and freebies for the Middle, Lower-Middle, and Poor Classes. But, statistics show that AAP has yet to earn the BJP's vote share. In Delhi and Himachal or Gujarat, the BJP's vote share has even increased despite AAP's approach towards Hindutva Politics. Thus, replicating its victory in other states is going to be a difficult task.

The biggest problem with the AAP is that it is no more an apolitical organization. The AAP cashed on it and projected itself as a party of apolitical, righteous, honest persons.

We still don't know about AAP's apparent position on the economy, defense, agriculture, criminal justice system, or foreign policy. We don't know the AAP's take on reservation policy, communalism, or taxation. It doesn't have a take on India's language policy either. And sooner, it has to take its stand based on a particular ideology, and it can not afford to be on both sides anymore, which will further decide the Aam Aadmi party's might.