Naravane memoir row: Rahul Gandhi walks away from questions on Galwan book excerpts

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was confronted by a reporter at Lucknow’s airport on Friday morning

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday was seen sidestepping questions about former Army chief M M Naravane’s book, from which he had attempted to cite excerpts regarding the Ladakh standoff.

According to Republic Bharat, the Congress leader was questioned by its reporter at Lucknow’s airport about remarks made by former Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane in a recent interview.

Gandhi was asked about Naravane’s remarks at a recent interview, where the former Army chief rejected claims associated with the controversy and dismissed allegations that Indian land had been ceded to China.

This month, the Lok Sabha witnessed sharp verbal exchanges on Monday during the Budget Session after the Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House of Parliament Gandhi sought to quote a magazine article containing excerpts from the unpublished memoir of Naravane.

However, General Naravane has countered Gandhi and the Congress theories on Galwan. In a recent interview with Republic World, he rejected allegations that India ceded territory to China, stating such claims were inaccurate and not reflective of facts on the ground. He also dismissed political interpretations drawn from reported excerpts of his book.

According to reports, the book chronicles his career and offers rare insight into military leadership, including during key operations like the border standoff with China. It was set for release in 2024, but the launch was halted.

Amid the controversy, Penguin Random House India issued a clarification, stating that it holds the exclusive publishing rights to 'Four Stars of Destiny', the memoir of former Army chief MM Naravane, and that the book has not yet been published in any form.

Emboldened by Penguin’s statement, the BJP demanded an apology from Gandhi and accused him of making baseless claims that were in violation of not only parliamentary conventions but also the law. Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it is now clear that Rahul Gandhi, “in keeping with his character”, has again spread lies and misled Parliament and the nation.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the stand taken by Penguin and Naravane have exposed Rahul and destroyed the “fiction” he was trying to narrate in the Lok Sabha. “His figment of imagination has been destroyed by both the publisher and the author.” His crime is “unpardonable” and he must apologise, he said.