Chennai, September 1, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Tamil Nadu BJP on Tuesday claimed that concerns over the contents of Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s memoir were behind Penguin Random House India’s decision not to publish the book in the country.
Tamil Nadu BJP chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy said publishers had made it clear that some of the writings in the memoir were not appropriate for the country and were not supported by facts.
Speaking to IANS, Thirupathy said publishers were responsible for verifying claims contained in a book and suggested that fact-checking would have led to objections over some of the material.
“That’s what they made very, very clear: a lot of the writings were not right and were not good for the country and were not based on facts,” he said.
Thirupathy added that if a publisher raised objections over factual content, the author should have the “courage” to remove the disputed material. He alleged that Penguin Random House India had decided against publishing the memoir after raising such concerns.
Penguin Random House India, however, issued a clarification on August 28 stating that it was not the Indian publisher of Belonging: A Journey of Love, Sonia Gandhi’s memoir. The company also rejected reports that it had withdrawn from the project because the author refused to accept editorial changes.
The publisher said it had been “keen to publish the book” but acknowledged its responsibility to fact-check authors and make recommendations during the publishing process.
With Penguin Random House India not publishing the memoir in India, several publishers have reportedly shown interest in acquiring its rights. HarperCollins is reported to be close to finalising an agreement to publish and distribute the book in the country.
Meanwhile, Alfred A. Knopf, a major US publishing house and an imprint of Penguin Random House, has announced November 10 as the release date for Sonia Gandhi’s memoir.
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