Penguin India denies dropping Sonia Gandhi memoir over proposed edits

New Delhi: Penguin Random House India has denied reports that it withdrew from publishing Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love in India, after the author allegedly refused proposed editorial changes to the manuscript.

In a social-media statement on Friday, PRHI said it was incorrect to suggest that it had decided against publishing the book because Gandhi had rejected changes or deletions sought by the company.

The publisher maintained that it was not the publisher of the memoir and said it had remained “willing and keen” to bring out the book in India throughout its discussions with the author.

“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 the book,” PRHI said.

The company, however, declined to elaborate on what it described as confidential discussions with Gandhi.

The clarification follows a report that PRHI, which had been expected to publish the Indian edition, would not proceed with the book after seeking editorial revisions to a portion of the manuscript. Sources cited in the report had said Gandhi did not agree to the suggested changes and deletions.

The Indian Express had also reported that other publishers had entered the race for the Indian publishing and distribution rights, with HarperCollins India said to be close to finalising an agreement. No formal announcement on a deal has yet been made.

The dispute concerns the Indian edition and does not affect the book’s international publication. Alfred A. Knopf, the United States-based Penguin Random House imprint, has scheduled the memoir for release on November 10, 2026. The 544-page hardcover edition is listed for release on that date, with an initial print run of 100,000 copies.

The memoir is expected to chronicle Sonia Gandhi’s journey from her childhood in post-war Italy to her life in India with the Nehru-Gandhi family. It will recount her relationship with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the deaths of Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and the personal and political circumstances that led her to enter public life.

The book is also expected to revisit her decision to decline the prime minister’s post after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won the 2004 Lok Sabha election.

Knopf has described Belonging as a personal and political account of love, family and India. The publisher says Gandhi traces her life from Italy and Cambridge to India, where she eventually became the Congress party’s longest-serving president.

In an earlier statement on the book, Sonia Gandhi said that although much had been written about her family, few narratives had fully captured the motivations, actions and human failings of its members. She said the memoir would offer a personal perspective on the social and political changes she had witnessed in India over six decades.

Rahul Gandhi welcomed the forthcoming memoir in a social-media post on August 20, saying he was “happy, and so proud” that his mother’s story would be read by millions. Recalling the years after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, he praised Sonia Gandhi’s courage and dignity, and said he understood how difficult it must have been for someone so private to write publicly about her life.

The latest controversy comes after two earlier publishing-related disputes involving PRHI. In February, the company said it had “not printed” former Army chief General M.M. Naravane’s memoir, Four Stars of Destiny, although a physical copy was displayed by Rahul Gandhi in Parliament. The manuscript reportedly included accounts relating to the Galwan clashes and the Agnipath scheme.

In June, PRHI also withdrew from distributing graphic novelist Joe Sacco’s The Once and Future Riot, a nonfiction work on the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. The company had cited content-related concerns raised during legal review, including an issue concerning a map that allegedly depicted India’s boundaries inaccurately.