Penguin Random House India Denies Dropping Sonia Gandhi Memoir Over Editorial Disputes

Penguin Random House India (PRHI) has denied reports that it decided not to publish Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, because she rejected requested editorial changes. The dispute follows reports that PRHI sought deletions regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and Chinese intrusions into Indian territory. PRHI stated that it is not the publisher of the book in India and maintained that it remained willing and keen to publish the work. The publisher described its requests for changes as a normal part of the publishing process involving fact checking and recommendations in the best interests of the book.

The Congress party dismissed the publisher's claims, questioning why the same reservations did not apply to the global release. The memoir is scheduled for worldwide release on November 10 through Alfred A Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House. While PRHI is not publishing the book in India, reports indicate that HarperCollins India is close to finalizing an agreement to publish and distribute the memoir within the country.

The memoir chronicles Gandhi's life from her childhood in Italy to her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi and her years in Indian politics. It covers personal tragedies, including the deaths of Sanjay, Indira, and Rajiv Gandhi. Center right reporting emphasizes the specific political content of the disputed passages, including a 2004 comment by Modi. Left leaning reporting focuses on the publisher's denial and places the event within a broader context of other controversial publishing decisions by PRHI, such as the handling of a memoir by former Army chief General M M Naravane.