Chennai: On Penguin India’s decision not to publish a book based on Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy said on Tuesday there were several writings in the book that were not right or good for the country.
The BJP leader also said that publishers would have fact-checked the contents of the book and objected to them based on their findings.
Speaking to IANS, Narayanan Thirupathy said, “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. Normally, a publisher will always verify such claims because they hold responsibility for whatever is written there. So, obviously, they would have checked the facts. Fact-checking would have been done by them, and that is why they objected to it.”
“So, when they object to the facts, I think you should have the courage to remove it. They were not doing it because they wanted to make it political. That’s why they rejected publishing it,” he told IANS.
Earlier, on August 28, Penguin Random House India categorically clarified that it was not publishing ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, Sonia Gandhi’s upcoming memoir, in India.
The statement came amid reports that the publisher had backed out after Sonia Gandhi allegedly refused to accept “editorial” changes.
“Penguin Random House India is not the publisher of ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’ (Sonia Gandhi’s memoir) in India. Any suggestion that Penguin Random House India decided not to publish Sonia Gandhi’s memoir because the author declined editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances,” the company said in a statement.
The publisher, however, acknowledged that it had been “keen to publish the book”, adding that it was its responsibility to fact-check authors and provide recommendations, amid discussions surrounding the book and its contents.
With Penguin Random House India out of the picture, several Indian publishers are reportedly in the race to acquire the rights. HarperCollins is reported to be close to finalising a deal to publish and distribute the book in India.
Meanwhile, Alfred A. Knopf, a major American publishing house and an imprint of Penguin Random House, has announced that Sonia Gandhi’s memoir will be released on November 10.
(IANS)
