Penguin Random House India (PRHI) was supposed to publish Sonia Gandhi's memoir, 'Belonging: A Journey of Love', in India. However, the senior Congress leader refused certain "editorial changes and deletions" that PRHI wanted in the book, following which HarperCollins is closing in on a final deal to publish and distribute the book in India.
Now, a close aide of Sonia spilled beans on three or four passages that PRHI wanted to remove, according to the Hindustan Times. The former Congress president mentioned in her memoir about Narendra Modi calling her a "Jersey cow" during a public rally in Gujarat in 2004, according to the aide. She also reportedly compared PM Modi with his predecessors in the book.
Other passages PRHI wanted to remove included references to RSS and China. However, no further details are available on the RSS portions. The aide revealed that PRHI objected to references to India-China ties and Chinese incursions, reports HT.
PRHI claimed that "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."
However, the Congress slammed PRHI over "fact-checking" claims, asking then why did Penguin's US arm agreed to publish the memoir globally.
Globally, the book is being published by Alfred A. Knopf, a publishing imprint under the Penguin Random House umbrella. Knopf is scheduled to release the memoir on November 10 and the first print run for the title would be one lakh copies.
According to Knopf, the book is a "riveting memoir by one of the world’s most prominent women leaders that tells a richly engaging story of love, family, and an endlessly fascinating country: India."
