“Publish and be damned” is the politician’s preferred response to being disparaged in a work authored by an opponent. Books and opinion pieces are often deployed to censure political rivals, but in India, they have limited impact on public opinion and voting behaviour. So, politicians tend to shrug off gratuitous criticism from other politicians. Then why the unwarranted fuss over Congress MP Sonia Gandhi’s upcoming memoir, which reportedly impugns Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and the RSS ideology?

Controversy And Political Timing

For one thing, controversy sells. Regardless of the content of a book, the notion that it contains secrets someone might want to suppress generates curiosity, speculative debate, and social media traction. The book promises to be an interesting read from two points of view: a 1960s fairy-tale romance segueing into tragedy and murky politics, and a behind-the-scenes look at the defining events over the past half-century. But it takes a digital buzz to turn intriguing non-fiction into a viral FOMO product.

The book seems strategically timed, as it will hit the shelves just before the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, a state closely associated with the Gandhi dynasty. It was also the site of Sonia Gandhi’s first foray into politics in 1995, where she emerged as a tragic hero figure. People may be keen to read about that episode, but the book itself is unlikely to help the Congress electorally. The many books critiquing ‘Modi’s India’ haven’t damaged the BJP, nor did former US president........

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