Starting up can be an awkward thing. Modi currently has Amitabh Kant to ensure his own #StartUpIndia has a fighting chance. #StartUpRahul though is still struggling to start. First of all, it's certainly groping for a few good "men". The second problem it has is that while regular start-up entrepreneurs know that your Big Idea may well be a blockbuster, Rahul has to absorb the other adage they know - "It's all about implementation."
It's a #SharkTank out there, and even big bold ideas get bloodied in the rough and tumble of the political marketplace. #StartUpRahul additionally has to avoid his genealogy trap. There's a joke about a second-generation businessman briefing his grandchildren: "I started out with lots, but I now have nothing to show for it". Rahul is currently in that embarrassing position.
Modi meanwhile has declared an open season for start-ups with the launch of his #StartUpIndia action plan. Dangerous, given that seasoned private equity wisdom tells us that nine out of ten start-ups are doomed to failure. To survive requires vision, persistence and more than a pinch of luck. This is also true also for parties trying to kick start moribund political fortunes. Both Modi and Rahul face differing scales of the same problem. The former to underline that this is not another
jumla and the latter to show he's finally a serious player!
#StartUpRahul being in Mumbai on the same day that Modi was surfing the surging crowds at #StartUpIndia may have seemed to hold the potential of clever Image Dialectics.
Padyatras work but only with the downtrodden. Sure, that's your vote bank, but remember the average Marathi
manoos, middle class and below, is kind of wedded to one form of the Shiv Sena or the other. #StartupRahul could not have chosen a tougher spot to do his
tandav on a day when new-generation eyeballs were fixated on tax breaks for making New Age entrepreneurship feasible in India - and the mandatory #SelfieWithModi!
The hardest resource to find for any start-up is funding. With an eye on funding, #StartUpRahul, they whisper, is contemplating changing his party treasurer. Rahul knows that getting his hands on a large bunch of cash is critical. Angels are always hard to find. But there could be a logic to replacing an aging Motilal Vohra with a natural fund accreter like Ahmed Patel. Delhi wonders though whether he will get to do any of the big changes that he needs to while Mama is still around as Prez.
Key to any start-up is of course great branding and marketing. There's no doubt that Modi loves his string of start-ups ranging from Digital India and Smart Cities to Swachh Bharat. In contrast, #StartupRahul resembles sporadic skirmishes with random markets. From tearing Manmohan's ordinance to vanishing into the wilds, it's been a long haul to the amazingly successful
padayatra in Mumbai. But no one is quite sure where #StartUpRahul is headed on foot.
Which #StartUpRahul will India see in 2016? While no longer projecting the image of a reluctant leader, he has not yet managed to convince many that he has the road map to rejuvenate the party and be the leader India needs to see. The reason is that he's been there before. In the past, angel investors have tried to kick-start Rahul again and again, only to see him sputter and stop. At various stages of his career, attempts have been made to refashion Rahul as India's only true deserved future, notably by the three wise men - Sam Pitroda, Suman Dubey and Digvijaya Singh - but with only moderate success. So what's going to be different now? For many, Rahul continues to be the embodiment of the employment guarantee scheme. After all, his employment was guaranteed from the day he was born!
As heir apparent, Rahul comes across as diffident even if more strident nowadays. Often he's mouthing tutored lines. The Bihar results for Congress notwithstanding, lack of any major political victory despite several years in active politics only underlines the extent of his challenge.
Unknown to Rahul perhaps, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already focusing on winning Uttar Pradesh. #StartUpRahul must quell any hopes of pinning victory there as his market debut. UP is, after all, the battleground that matters most for Modi. Political start-ups require brave decisions. You can't keep up this charade of #WillPriyankaGandhi or #Won'tPriyanka as default mode for a party that's now non-existent in UP.
Crafting political partnerships and a reality check of your own start-up status are other challenges for #StartUpRahul. He has to induct fresh talent but yet not lose his experienced hands. Uniting old and new Congress leaders and making them work for a common purpose is essential if he has to regain his lost electoral base.
There is little time to lose. The states where elections are looming, Bengal and Assam, certainly need him to get his party aligned with whosoever will win seats in both. Pretending that his party is getting stronger by getting thrashed while on its own isn't going to work.
Comprende?(Dilip Cherian, founder Perfect Relations, is Image Guru to Corporates and Parties. An editorial flaneur, he's sometimes syndicated, occasionally a talking head for TV, but specialist in giving face-lifts to beleaguered corporations and politicos.) Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.