CPI-M politbureau member M A Baby turns TV host

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI-M Politburo member M A Baby is all set to don the garb of a TV show host in a Malayalam channel.

The party ideologue, a former minister, would anchor a daily serial titled “Ente Keralam @ 60” (My Kerala @ 60), to be aired on Asianet News.

The programme, which discusses the socio-cultural and political history and development of Kerala in the backdrop of the diamond jubilee celebration of its formation, will be broadcast from tomorrow night.

Channel sources said the former education minister was roped in as the anchor for the show as he was a scholar-leader who had grown and developed his views and outlook in the last six decades.

Baby, also a former Rajya Sabha member and an MLA, said his attempt was to trigger an “healthy, objective and scientific dialogue” which would benefit the future of the state through the show.

“The objective of the programme is to undertake a threadbare discussion on the 60 year journey of Kerala and formulate an approach for its future development, based on the lessons drawn from the past,” he told PTI.

Besides this, the struggle for the reformation movement and the role of political parties which had shaped the state’s outlook in these six decades would also be discussed.

“My focus is to approach and present various aspects of the period without any prejudice-that is not as a pro-CPI-M or anti-CPI-M,” he said adding he had no role in the programme’s content.

M G Radhakrishnan, Editor, Asianet News, said Baby’s Marxist views and Left background would not reflect in the programme though it would discuss the political history of the state and the role played by various parties.

“Ente Keralam @ 60 is planned as a daily serial which unfolds the comprehensive history of the state covering its socio-cultural and political aspects and developments in the last six decades. Besides a journey through the past, it will also try to look into the future,” he told PTI.

Radhakrishnan said there would be “no political bias” in the programme though the CPI(M) leader plays the host for the 56-episode show.