Penguin Random House India Drops Sonia Gandhi Memoir

Penguin Random House India announced it will not publish Belonging: A Journey of Love, the memoir of Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The publisher denied allegations that government intervention or external pressure influenced the decision, stating that talks stalled during the standard editorial and fact-checking process. While the company rejected claims that it withdrew solely because Gandhi refused editorial changes, it noted that the author's team ultimately decided not to proceed with the India publication after the two sides failed to reach an understanding on a specific point.

Narayanan Thirupathy, chief spokesperson for the Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party, claimed the publisher rejected the work because the writing was not based on facts and was not good for the country. Other Indian publishers are reportedly competing for the distribution rights, with reports suggesting HarperCollins may be close to finalizing a deal.

Despite the decision regarding the Indian market, the memoir is scheduled for a worldwide release on November 10 through Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.