NEW DELHI, Feb 2026 : When Rahul Gandhi waved a hardbound copy of former Army Chief General MM Naravane’s ‘unpublished’ memoir Four Stars of Destiny inside and outside Parliament earlier this month, it triggered more than a political storm.
The book was slated for publication by Penguin Random House India. According to the Ministry of Defence, the book has not yet been cleared by them. The publisher has clarified that no official copies have been released or distributed, and Delhi Police has since registered an FIR to investigate the alleged circulation of pre-print copies and PDFs.
In a message on X (formerly Twitter), General Manoj Naravane quipped, denying the publisher’s claim as he wrote: “Hello friends. My book is available now. Just follow the link. Happy reading. Jai Hind.”
Gandhi, however, pointed to a December 2023 tweet from General Naravane, a screenshot of which 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.”
The controversy has raised a curious question beyond politics and national security. If a book is not officially out, but a pre-order link was generated, how does a hardbound copy exist? What exactly happens between the moment an author types ‘The End’ and the day the book reaches a reader’s hands?
Picture credit social media
