'How Did He Get The Book?' BJP Asks Rahul Gandhi As MM Naravane's Memoir Publisher Denies Release

Last Updated:February 10, 2026, 16:27 IST

The controversy centres on Four Stars of Destiny after Penguin Random House India issued a clarification stating that the manuscript has not been published “in any form” so far.

The BJP on Tuesday stepped up its attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, questioning how he obtained a physical copy of former Army chief General MM Naravane’s memoir after its publisher said the book has not yet been released.

The controversy centres on Four Stars of Destiny, General Naravane’s memoir, after Penguin Random House India issued a clarification stating that while it holds exclusive publishing rights, the manuscript has not been published “in any form" so far.

The publisher said the statement was issued in view of reports about unauthorised copies being circulated.

Despite the clarification, Gandhi maintained that the book was publicly available, citing a social media post by General Naravane from December 2023.

A screenshot of the post shows the former Army chief announcing that his book was “available now" and directing readers to a link.

Addressing reporters outside Parliament, Gandhi said the publisher’s claim was questionable. “Here is a tweet from General Naravane which says, ‘Just follow the link to my book.’ Either General Naravane is lying or Penguin is lying, and I do not believe the former Army Chief would lie," he said.

The BJP rejected Gandhi’s argument, saying he had misunderstood the difference between a pre-order announcement and an official publication.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonwalla accused the Congress leader of misleading Parliament and the public, calling him a “national embarrassment".

In a post on X, the spokesperson said the tweet cited by Gandhi referred only to a pre-order facility. “Now the questions remain: how did he get the book? Was there a violation of the Copyright Act and the Official Secrets Act? Did Rahul Gandhi mislead the country and make false allegations against Defence Minister Rajnath Singh? Did he disrupt Parliament based on this?" the post read.

General Naravane’s December 2023 post had included an image from Penguin highlighting that Four Stars of Destiny was available for pre-order, a distinction the BJP has emphasised in its response.

The row over the memoir erupted last week during a heated debate in Parliament when Gandhi sought to read excerpts from a book review published by an Indian news website, relating to the 2020 India-China standoff in eastern Ladakh that culminated in the Galwan Valley clash.

Gandhi was stopped by the Speaker, who cited House rules barring unpublished material from being read into the official record.

Although Gandhi offered a personal assurance on the authenticity of the excerpts, he was prevented from reading them out again the following day, triggering sharp exchanges between ruling party and opposition MPs.

The disruption led to the suspension of eight opposition MPs for the remainder of the session.

Amid continued protests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled Lok Sabha address was cancelled, a move the Speaker attributed to opposition members allegedly planning an “attack" on the Prime Minister.

Subsequently, Gandhi wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, describing the episode as a “blot on our democracy" and protesting against what he termed an attempt to silence debate on national security issues.

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