‘I believe Gen Naravane over Penguin’: Rahul Gandhi on alleged leak of ‘Four Stars of Destiny’

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday reacted to the Delhi Police’s move to file an FIR in connection with the alleged online circulation of former Army Chief General MM Naravane’s unpublished book, ‘Four Stars of Destiny’.

Gandhi, who had last week quoted from a magazine article on the memoir inside Parliament and was later seen holding a ‘copy’ of the book inside the Parliament complex, today claimed that the book was up for pre-order in 2023 and the former Army Chief had also posted on X/Twitter about it.

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Gen Naravane, who was India’s 28th Chief of Army Staff, had posted on December 15, 2023: “Hello friends. My book is available now. Just follow the link. Happy reading. Jai Hind.”

Here’s the post:

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

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, today told the media at the Parliament House complex: “Here is a tweet from Mr Naravane which says – ‘Just follow the link to my book’. The point I am making is – either Mr Naravane is lying or it is Penguin that is lying. I don’t think the former Army chief will lie.”

#WATCH | On Delhi Police files FIR to investigate alleged circulation of former Army chief General MM Naravane’s (Retd) unpublished book, LoP Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi says,” Here is a tweet from Mr Naravane which says -“Just follow the link to my book”. The point I am making is -… pic.twitter.com/zeHbtzJpjJ

— ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2026

Gandhi said the publisher of the book, Penguin India, may have denied that the book went into publication or was published either in print or online, but he trusts the former Army Chief on the issue.

“Penguin says the book has not been published. But the book is available on Amazon. Gen Naravane has tweeted, ‘Please buy my book’ in 2023. I believe Naravane ji over Penguin. Do you believe Penguin over Naravane ji? I believe Naravane ji 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 if Penguin or the former Army Chief is telling the truth,” the Congress leader added.

Statement from the publisher. pic.twitter.com/pksacg3EeT

— Penguin India (@PenguinIndia) February 9, 2026

The Delhi Police yesterday registered the FIR, taking cognisance of reports that a pre-print copy of the unpublished book was being circulated online without mandatory official clearance.

The police found in its preliminary probe that a type-set PDF copy of the book with the same title and apparently prepared by Penguin Random House India Private Limited, was available on certain websites.

Some online shopping and marketing platforms were also said to be carrying the final cover of the book, suggesting it was already available for sale, police sources said.

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police decided to file the FIR, considering the book was authored by a former Army Chief.

The police investigation into the matter continues.