Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], August 29 (ANI): Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao on Saturday targeted the Congress after Penguin Random House India backed out of publishing Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love, saying the publisher’s decision to seek a fact-check of certain incidents raises questions over the claims made in the book.
Speaking to ANI, Rao said there had been “a lot of hype” around Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, but the publisher’s request for fact-checking itself showed that the Congress had “always relied on lies and tried to create stories.”
“There has been a lot of hype around the memoir written by Sonia Gandhi. However, the publisher has now requested a fact-check of certain incidents, which itself shows that Congress has always relied on lies and tried to create stories. When an autobiography itself comes under scrutiny and requires fact-checking, the claims made by Congress leaders must definitely be questioned. The readers must also verify for themselves how many lies it contains,” Rao said.
BJP National Spokesperson CR Kesavan, speaking in Chennai, also hit out at the Congress over its reaction to the memoir.
“Congress leaders attempting to spin stories and fabricate a false narrative of fear over the release of Sonia Gandhi’s memoir is not merely ironic; it is glaringly hypocritical,” Kesavan said.
He questioned Congress leaders who were claiming that there was fear over the contents of the memoir, asking them to explain why the “Congress First Family” was allegedly “nervous and jittery” about making public 51 carton boxes containing correspondence of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
“These Congress leaders should tell their Congress First Family why the Congress First Family is so nervous and jittery that they are not making public the 51 carton boxes of Nehru’s correspondence, which also contain Nehru’s letters to Edwin Montagu,” he said.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Penguin Random House India issued a statement clarifying that it is not the publisher in India of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir ‘Belonging’.
The publisher made the clarification following media reports, which claimed that it had withdrawn from releasing ‘Belonging’ in the country, as she had reportedly rejected proposed editorial changes.
“Penguin Random House India is not the publisher of ‘Belonging’ in India. Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish ‘Belonging’ because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances,” the note read.
The publisher said it’s still “keen to publish the book” and stressed that fact-checking and suggesting editorial changes are part of its responsibility.
“As a publisher, it is both our prerogative and our responsibility to fact-check and provide authors with recommendations that are in the best interests of their books. This is a normal part of the publishing process. Throughout the relevant discussions, Penguin Random House India’s position was that we remained willing and keen to publish the book. We will not comment further on confidential discussions with the author,” the statement further read.
The memoir chronicles Sonia Gandhi’s remarkable journey, from her childhood in post-war Italy and her romance that brought her to India to the devastating personal losses that profoundly shaped her life and her relationship with her adopted country.
In the memoir, the 79-year-old Congress veteran, who holds the distinction of being the party’s longest-serving president, revisits her childhood in Italy, her romance with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi during their time at Cambridge, and the assassinations of her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, and husband Rajiv Gandhi.
Born in Italy, Sonia Gandhi was a 19-year-old student in Cambridge, England, when she met Rajiv Gandhi in 1965. The couple exchanged vows on February 25, 1968.
Publisher Alfred A Knopf announced on August 18 that Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, will be published on November 10. Alfred A. Knopf is an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, which is a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Their parent company is Bertelsmann AG, an international media company.
Now, after the Penguin Random House statement, it remains to be seen when ‘Belonging’ will be released in India and through which publishing house. (ANI)
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