‘Memoir or fiction?’: BJP targets Sonia Gandhi’s book as Congress alleges govt pressure

Penguin Random House India's decision not to publish Sonia Gandhi’s memoir in India has triggered a political slugfest between the BJP and Congress. While Congress has alleged “pressure” from the government and a “threat to freedom of expression”, BJP has challenged the claims and questioned the contents of the book.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Whether the book written by Sonia Gandhi is a memoir or fiction is a matter to be decided between the author and the publisher. If a work labelled as a memoir turns out to be fiction, the publisher will certainly assess that before making a decision. I feel that if you attempt to politicise a work presented as a memoir, questions will inevitably be raised.”

Gandhi’s book deal with Penguin Random House India fell through after she refused to make changes or deletions of references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s ideological fount, and Chinese intrusions, HT reported earlier.

BJP National Spokesperson CR Kesavan said, “The attempts by Congress leaders to spin stories and manufacture a false narrative of fear over the release of Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s memoir are not merely ironic, they are glaringly hypocritical.”

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Citing the late K Natwar Singh’s 2014 autobiography One Life Is Not Enough, Kesavan said excerpts from the book “clearly states how uneasy and uncomfortable the Nehru-Gandhi family was about his account of certain events in May 2004, before the UPA Government was sworn in.”

He said, “Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra decided to meet him before his book release to discuss it, this sudden visit coming after eight and a half years! Why was Sonia Gandhi so apprehensive about what Shri. Natwar Singh would write in his book?”

Drawing a parallel with the current controversy, Kesavan asked, “The moot point in the context of Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s memoirs is: which portions of her memoir warranted fact-checking and why so?”

He added, “For Congress leaders who are farcically saying that some are afraid of the memoirs contents, they should explain to the nation the real reason why the Congress first family is nervous and jittery to make public the 51 carton boxes of Nehru’s correspondence, which include his letters to Edwina Mountbatten.”

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, “Penguin India is more than happy to publish ‘Exam Warriors’ and several books on RSS. No doubt there are those in the BJP government who have now become afraid of a book being being read by the people of India.”

Congress MP Dr Akhilesh Prasad Singh said, “It is clear that no publisher, whether Penguin or anyone else, can influence an author or pressure them to remove or include specific content. That is evident, and perhaps that is why Sonia Gandhi declined as well.