New Delhi:- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has challenged the claim of publisher Penguin Random House India, citing a social media post of former Army Chief M M Naravane in December 2023. Penguin had recently said that the book based on Naravane's memoirs has not been published yet, while according to Rahul Gandhi, Naravane himself had posted about its "availability" in 2023. Gandhi clearly said that he believes the former Army Chief more than Penguin.
While talking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Rahul Gandhi read out General Naravane's social media post, which read "Hello friends. My book is now available. Just follow the link. You will be happy to read it. Jai Hind." Rahul Gandhi raised the question that either General Naravane is lying or Penguin is, because both things cannot be true at the same time. He said, "I believe the former Army Chief, I don't think he will lie."
Rahul Gandhi further said that although Penguin is saying that the book is not being published, the book is available on Amazon and General Naravane himself had tweeted to buy it in 2023. He claimed that Naravane has said things in the book that are "inconvenient" for the Modi government, due to which this whole controversy is arising. Now it is for the people to decide whose words they believe to be true.
It is noteworthy that Penguin Random House India had stated that it holds the exclusive publishing rights of former Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane's memoirs 'Four Stars of Destiny' and it is clear that the book has not been published yet amid reports of unauthorized copies being circulated.