Exclusive: Penguin India sought cuts to Modi, RSS, China portions in Sonia Gandhi's memoir

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s memoir deal with Penguin Random House India (PRHI) fell through due to her refusal to make changes to sections that mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Chinese incursions. Gandhi, 79, insisted that the memoir would be her own story and that no distortions should be made to it.

Alfred A Knopf, a Penguin imprint, is set to release the memoir titled 'Belonging: A Journey of Love' worldwide on November 10. HarperCollins is reportedly close to finalizing an agreement to publish and distribute the book in India, although they did not comment when asked. Sources revealed that PRHI objected to her recollections and observations about her encounters with Modi, including an instance where Modi called her a "Jersey cow" at a public rally in Gujarat in 2004.

Gandhi's aide stated that she detailed his comments and provided insights into how the meeting went. The publisher's concerns stemmed from the memoir's expansive nature, as it covered her long political career and included her perspectives on various subjects. PRHI initially raised issues over multiple passages that they felt should be removed or altered.

The final breakdown in the book deal occurred due to three or four critical sections that Gandhi insisted on keeping. It was reported that Gandhi compares Modi to other Prime Ministers in the memoir. The source of her remarks on the RSS remains unclear. PRHI's stance was that their decision not to publish the memoir was not due to her refusal of editorial changes but rather their responsibility to fact-check and provide recommendations in the book's best interest.

However, the Congress Party dismissed this claim, calling it an inaccurate representation of the situation. Independent literary agents handled the memoir, and most Congress leaders are not aware of its full contents. The Indian edition of the memoir is expected to have a different cover than the international version, featuring Gandhi in a saree - a photograph taken by her husband, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.