The autobiography of Sonia Gandhi, the matriarch of India’s opposition Congress party, has become the subject of a controversy after its prospective publisher allegedly sought changes to passages about prime minister Narendra Modi.Belonging: A Journey of Love was first announced by Penguin Random House imprint Alfred A Knopf in August and slated for release on 10 November.The memoir traces Gandhi’s life from post-war Italy to her marriage to former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the assassinations of her husband and his mother, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and her eventual entry into politics.Penguin Random House India (PRHI) was expected to publish and distribute the book in the country but dropped it after negotiations with Gandhi’s representatives broke down.The breakdown was attributed to the publisher’s demands for “editorial changes and deletions” that Gandhi’s side rejected, according to the Indian Express.The publisher’s lawyers reportedly raised objections to several passages and sent lists of proposed changes to Gandhi’s representatives during negotiations that lasted at least two months. The discussions were initially “cordial” but became increasingly “rough” towards the end, unnamed sources told the newspaper.Sonia Gandhi’s autobiography traces her life from post-war Italy to her marriage to former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and her entry into politics (Knopf)The objections reportedly covered references to Modi and his 12 years as prime minister; the RSS, the parent organisation of almost all major Hindu nationalist groups in the country, including Modi’s ruling BJP; communal violence and the treatment of religious minorities; and India-China tensions, including the 2020 clashes along the Himalayan border that left several soldiers dead.The book, an aide of Gandhi told the Hindustan Times, recounts her meetings with Modi as well as her reactions to his insulting remarks, like calling her a “Jersey cow” at a public rally in 2004, implying that she was a foreigner and not Indian. “She has had a long career in politics and therefore her memoir is expansive. She has certainly given her impressions of the prime minister and details of what happened when they met,” the aide told the paper. “As a politician, she mentions how this issue was handled, but the publishers had problems with it.”The book reportedly addresses the India-China border dispute in considerable detail, including Chinese incursions into territory claimed by the South Asian nation, and examines the influence of the RSS on Indian public life and society. Modi was a member of the RSS before entering full-time politics with its affiliate BJP. Gandhi’s representatives pushed back saying that PRHI’s lawyers were being “over-sensitive” and the proposed deletions could result in separate Indian and international editions. A person involved in the process said that Indian readers would effectively be required to compare the two versions to establish “what all had been changed or censored”, the Indian Express reported.PRHI disputed the characterisation of what happened and claimed in a statement on Friday that it remained “willing and keen to publish” Belonging.“Penguin Random House India is not the publisher of Belonging in India,” the publisher said. “As a publisher, it is both our prerogative and our responsibility to fact check and provide authors with recommendations that are in the best interests of their books. This is a normal part of the publishing process.”Narendra Modi reportedly compared Sonia Gandhi to a ‘Jersey cow’ during a 2004 campaign rally and described her son Rahul Gandhi, now the leader of the opposition, as a ‘hybrid calf’ (AFP/Getty)On Monday, PRHI spokesperson Pallavi Narayan told The Independent the autobiography had been a “hard-won acquisition”. “During our discussions with the author’s representatives, several points were raised and deliberated upon. On some, they agreed to changes and on others, we accepted the author’s position,” she said.“Unfortunately, and ultimately, an understanding couldn’t be reached on a particular issue. It was then that the author’s team informed us that they did not wish to proceed and we respected their decision.”While PRHI said they would “not divulge details of what led to the impasse”, they rejected any suggestion that political considerations influenced the decision.There was “no external pressure whatsoever”, the publisher said.The Indian rights to the memoir now appear to be in flux, with HarperCollins India close to finalising a deal and several other publishers also in the running, according to the Indian Express. A listing on Amazon India, verified by The Independent, offers the Kindle edition of the autobiography for pre-order and identifies HarperCollins imprint William Collins as its publisher. The Independent contacted HarperCollins for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.In June this year, PRHI dropped its plan to distribute Joe Sacco’s The Once and Future Riot, a graphic account of the 2013 sectarian riots in Muzaffarnagar in northern India. In 2014, PRHI had agreed to withdraw Wendy Doniger’s The Hindus after an out-of-court settlement with Shiksha Bachao Andolan, a Hindu nationalist group which had challenged the book saying that it offended Hindu religious sentiments. The agreement required Penguin to recall and pulp the remaining copies in India, although international editions remained available.