Rahul Gandhi accuses Penguin of ‘lying’ as row over ex-Army chief Naravane’s memoir deepens

Gandhi’s remarks came hours after Penguin Random House India issued a statement saying it holds exclusive publishing rights to the memoir and that the manuscript has not been published “in any form” so far.

The publisher said it was clarifying its position amid reports of unauthorised copies being circulated.

Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Gandhi cited a December 2023 post by General Naravane on X, in which the former Army chief appeared to promote the book. A screenshot of the post was earlier shared by fact-checker Mohd Zubair.

“Here is a tweet from General Naravane which says, ‘Just follow the link to my book’,” Gandhi said. “Either General Naravane is lying, or Penguin is lying. I do not think the former Army chief would lie.”

Gandhi further claimed the book was available online, including on Amazon, contradicting the publisher’s assertion that it had not been released.

Holding up a copy of the book, he had said, “The Speaker has said this book does not exist. The government has said it does not exist. The Defence Minister has said it does not exist. But every young person in India should see that this book exists.”

The Congress leader alleged that the memoir contains statements that are “inconvenient for the Government of India and the Prime Minister,” suggesting this was the reason behind efforts to prevent discussion of its contents in Parliament.

Meanwhile, Naravane on Tuesday responded publicly for the first time to the controversy surrounding his yet-to-be-published memoir by resharing a clarification issued by his publisher.

“This is the status of the book,” General Naravane wrote on X, reposting the publisher’s statement.

The controversy erupted last week after Gandhi attempted to read excerpts from a book review published by an Indian news website relating to the 2020 India-China military standoff in eastern Ladakh, which later led to a violent clash claiming the lives of 20 Indian soldiers.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla stopped Gandhi, citing parliamentary rules that prohibit reading unpublished material into the House record.

Although Gandhi offered a personal guarantee to authenticate the excerpts, he was again barred from reading them the following day. This triggered sharp exchanges between ruling BJP MPs and opposition members, leading to disruptions in the House.

Eight opposition MPs were suspended for the remainder of the session amid the protests. The continued uproar also forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel his scheduled speech in the Lok Sabha, with the Speaker later saying opposition MPs had planned an “attack” on the Prime Minister.

Subsequently, Gandhi wrote to Speaker Om Birla, describing the decision to block his remarks as a “blot on our democracy” and protesting what he termed the curtailment of debate on a matter of national security.

The issue is expected to resurface when Parliament reconvenes next month for the second half of the Budget Session, during which Speaker Birla may also face a potential no-confidence motion.