Penguin India drops Sonia Gandhi memoir for comments on PM, RSS and India-China relations

This book cover image published by Alfred A. Knopf shows ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’ by Sonia Gandhi. | Photo credit: AP

Penguin Random House India on Friday (28 Aug 2026) said it is not publishing Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s expected autobiography, Belonging: A Journey of Love, with industry sources saying the publisher and author had differences over content related to her impressions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from official meetings, his handling of India-China activities and India-China activities.

Responding to the newspaper reports, the Indian publisher issued the following statement on Friday (August 28, 2026): “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 refused editorial changes does not accurately reflect the circumstances.”

He added: “As a publisher, it is our privilege and our responsibility to verify the facts and make recommendations to authors that are in the best interest of their books. This is a normal part of the publishing process. During the relevant discussions, Penguin Random House India was of the view that we remained willing and eager to publish the book.”

Legal control versus self-censorship

Sources said Mrs Gandhi’s manuscript ran into trouble at the legal examination stage, which has become a trend in the last decade. When the author was given feedback from the legal team to remove or change sections related to the Prime Minister, the RSS and Mrs Gandhi’s views on India-China relations, they were reportedly told that this was the story of her life and that she would not change anything in the manuscript as self-censorship would interfere with the narrative process.

Mrs. Gandhi worked on the book for several years and consulted her close friends, including several authors, during her research and writing of The Hindu. Mrs. Gandhi’s office did not comment on the matter.

International release without changes

A book charting Mrs Gandhi’s journey from Italy to India will be released to international readers on November 10, Alfred A. Knopf announced on August 18. “In this revelatory book, the once famously reticent Sonia Gandhi opens up with warmth and candor to recount her remarkable life, from her childhood in post-war Italy to her love experiences that brought her not only a love affair from India, her own future, but also her adopted home,” it read.

It is understood that content deemed inappropriate by Penguin Random House India will be featured in the international edition of the book. Under current circumstances, this international edition will be available to Indian readers who are willing to pay the international price to purchase the book.

Controversial record

This is not the first controversy that has dragged Penguin Random House India into the limelight this year. Former army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane’s memoir Four Stars of Destiny was expected to be published earlier this year, but the book remained unpublished, allegedly because of the author’s description of the standoff between Indian and Chinese forces at Galwan in 2021. Subsequently, hard copies of the book as well as digital copies of the manuscript became available and controversy arose over its exact status. The publisher then asserted its rights to the material, stating that “the book was not published”. Sources in the publishing industry said that like Mrs Gandhi’s book, General Naravane’s monograph also faced hurdles at the legal scrutiny stage.

Graphic novelist Joe Sacco’s book The Once and Future Riot, based on the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, was also pulled by Penguin Random House India, allegedly for using an “inaccurate” map of India. However, Mr Sacco later said the publisher was trying to find “excuses” to back out of the project. “It’s embarrassing that an Indian publisher doesn’t want to distribute a book like this because of the current political climate in India. Maybe he’s leaning on them,” he told The Wire.

Published – 28 Aug 2026 12:47 IST