Congress MP Rahul Gandhi responded Tuesday to publisher Penguin Random House India's note about 'Four Stars of Destiny' – ex-Army chief General MM Naravane's memoir that has become the focus of a political row in Parliament between the ruling BJP and the opposition.
This morning Penguin Random House India confirmed it holds exclusive publishing rights and that the manuscript has not been published, in any form, at this time. The publishing house said it wished to make its position clear in light of reports of unauthorised copies being circulated.
Gandhi, however, pointed to a December 2023 tweet from General Naravane, a screenshot of which was shared by fact-checker Mohd. Zubair, and suggested Penguin was "lying".
"Here is a tweet from (General) Naravane which says, 'Just follow the link to my book'…" Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament. "The point I am making is this: either (General) Naravane is lying, or Penguin is lying (and) I do not think the former Army Chief would lie."
Here is a tweet from Mr Naravane which says, “Just follow the link to my book.” The point I am making is this: either Mr Naravane is lying, or Penguin is lying. I do not think the former Army Chief would lie. Penguin says the book has not been published, but the book is available… pic.twitter.com/Xtn7gygC2K
— Congress (@INCIndia) February 10, 2026
"Penguin says the book has not been published… but the book is available on Amazon."
"General Naravane tweeted, 'Please buy my book in 2023'… I believe Naravaneji over Penguin. Do you believe Penguin over Naravaneji?" he asked gathered reporters.
LOP Rahul Gandhi shows Army Chief Naravane's Book that Rajnath Singh, Om Birla and all BJP leaders said doesn't exist!
— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) February 4, 2026
Four Stars of Destiny exists and should be published and read by all.
Why is LOP not being allowed to read passages that army chief has written? pic.twitter.com/ZXQxkla5Fd
Speaking to the reporters, Gandhi held up a copy of the book and said he wanted the young people of India to know the book did, in fact, exist. "The Speaker has said this book does not exist… the government has said it does not exist… Defence Minister Rajnath Singhji has said this book does not exist. But every youngster in India should see this book exists," he said.
Hello friends. My book is available now. Just follow the link. Happy reading. Jai Hind pic.twitter.com/VCiLiZOWIi
— Manoj Naravane (@ManojNaravane) December 15, 2023
"I believe Naravaneji has made certain statements in his book that are inconvenient for the Government of India and the Prime Minister of India. Obviously, you have to decide whether Penguin or the former Army Chief is telling the truth…" Rahul Gandhi declared.
The row over 'Four Stars of Destiny' erupted last week after Rahul Gandhi said he wanted to read excerpts – from a book review by an Indian news website – to do with the India-China stand-off in Ladakh in 2020, a stand-off that escalated into a violent clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers.
Gandhi was stopped from reading out those excerpts by the Speaker, who cited House rules that said unpublished material could not be read into parliamentary record. The Congress leader was asked for a personal guarantee to authenticate the content, which he did.
However, on the following day he was still blocked from reading the excerpts, which led to a bitter exchange between MPs from the ruling BJP and those from the opposition.
Eight opposition MPs were suspended for the rest of this session in the ruckus that followed and protests from the opposition forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel his Lok Sabha speech, a cancellation the Speaker attributed to opposition MPs planning an 'attack' on the PM.
Gandhi has since written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, lodging what he described as a strong protest over being prevented from speaking on a matter of national security.
He called the development a "blot on our democracy".
In related developments, Speaker Om Birla faces a potential no-confidence vote when Parliament reconvenes next month for the second half of the budget session.
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