In a major revamp, NDTV has pulled the plug on its popular shows “We the People” and “The Buck stops here”. Their place will be taken by a new daily one hour program titled “Major blow to Modi”, anchored by the one and only Sreenivasan Jain, a domain expert who is peerless when it comes to critiquing the Gujarat CM. With CBI charge-sheeting police officials in the Ishrat Jahan case, the NDTV editorial team felt that only a dedicated ‘Major blow to Modi’ program could do justice to their reportage. The one hour program, slotted for prime time, will focus exclusively on the Ishrat Jehan fake encounter case, LK Advani’s differences with the Gujarat CM, Gujarat’s failing social indicators, Nitish Kumar’s trenchant critique of the Gujarat model of development and, when starved for themes, the 2002 riots.

Sreenivasan Jain said he is looking forward to the most exciting phase of his career. “To get paid to do what you love to do…what more can a professional ask for, man?” he raved in exultation as he prepped for the program’s inaugural show: “PM blocks Jet-Etihad deal. Major blow to Modi?”

Dr. Prannoy Roy said the move made perfect business sense and was in the interest of NDTV stakeholders as well. “We are recognized as the industry’s gold standard in shaping the narrative as a setback to Modi. So given our expertise and abundance of content, it made perfect sense to devote an entire program to this rich genre. If things go well, we may even scrap NDTV Profit and launch a new 24/7 channel dedicated to Modi bashing,” said the NDTV chairman, keeping his fingers crossed.

The NDTV chairman pooh-poohed concerns over whether the new program will generate sufficient TRPs to sustain itself. “Who cares about TRPs? We’ve already sold a year’s worth of ad inventory to the UPA government for broadcasting those Bharat Nirman ads,” he said.

NDTV announced the launch of its new program with this triumphalist headline: “Major blow to Modi as NDTV launches ‘Major blow to Modi’”.