Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday countered Penguin Random House India’s claim that M.M. Naravane’s memoir Four Stars of Destiny “had not gone into publication”, citing a December 2023 social media post by the former army chief in which he said his book was “available now”.
Naravane on Tuesday broke his silence on the raging controversy over his book, sharing on X Penguin Random House India’s statement on Monday and posting: “This is the status of the book.”
The publisher’s statement, issued after Delhi police registered an FIR over the alleged circulation of the pre-print copy of the book, said: “We wish to make it clear that the book has not gone into publication.”
The British-American publisher said it held sole publishing rights for the memoir and emphasised that no copies of the book, in print or in digital form, had been published, distributed, sold or otherwise made available to the public by Penguin.
“Excerpts” from the book that were published by The Caravan magazine have triggered a political storm after Rahul tried to refer to them in Parliament but was thwarted by the Speaker and the ruling side. The “excerpts” appear to suggest that the country’s top leadership had failed to give clear directions to then army chief Naravane during the 2020 military standoff with China.
Speaking to reporters inside the Parliament complex on Tuesday, Rahul said he believed Naravane over Penguin. The Congress leader read out Naravane’s December 2023 post on X, then Twitter, that said: “Hello friends. My book is available now. Just follow the link. Happy reading. Jai Hind.”
A screenshot shared by Naravane showed a post by Penguin India announcing that readers could “pre-order” the book.
“This is the tweet Mr Naravane has made. The point I am making is that either Naravane is lying, and I believe the (former) army chief, I don’t think he will lie, or Penguin is lying? Both cannot be telling the truth,” Rahul said.
“Penguin is saying the book is not published.... Gen. Naravane had tweeted, as I just read to you, that please buy my book. He tweeted this in 2023. Do you believe Penguin over Naravane? I believe Naravane,” he said.
Responding to Rahul’s comments, Penguin said a book available for pre-order was different from a published book.
Rahul said the former army chief had made certain statements in the book that are “inconvenient” for the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Obviously, you have to decide whether Penguin is telling the truth or the (former) army chief is telling the truth. That is the issue,” Rahul said, pointing to a poster protesting Opposition MPs were holding up near the Makar Dwar of Parliament. “Narender Surrender,” the poster read.
“This has happened and the India-US trade dealhappened because of this,” Rahul said.
He has accused Modi of being “compromised” and selling out India’s hard-earned progress in the trade deal with the US.
Penguin response
Responding to Rahul’s comments, Penguin Random House India on Tuesday said “an announced book, a book available for pre-order and a published book are not the same thing”.
In a post on X detailing the process, the publisher said a book being made available for pre-ordering “is a standard publishing practice” that allows readers and retailers to place advance orders. “The book is not yet published or available,” it said.
Penguin said a “scheduled publication date does not mean the book is planned for release” and “does not mean the book has been published”.
“A book is published only when it is available at retail channels for purchase,”it said.
Questions
Sources in the Delhi police, which is probing the alleged circulation of a PDF of the book through WhatsApp and emails, said there were several unanswered questions regarding the “unpublished” book.
“If the book was not published, how did Rahul Gandhi get hold of a copy? How can a book be opened for pre-orders at such a scale without even a single copy having been printed?” asked a senior police officer.
