The Indian Parliament’s 2026 Budget Session has deteriorated into an unprecedented “war of books,” a high-stakes narrative struggle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. What started out as a disagreement about national security has turned into a heated conflict about personal behavior, historical legacies, and even parliamentary procedure itself.
The Naravane Memoir: The Opening Salvo
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, started the controversy by attempting to read from the unpublished book of former Army Chief General MM Naravane, Four Stars of Destiny. Gandhi said that the government had “let down” the armed forces during the 2020 Ladakh standoff with China using quotes that were first published in The Caravan magazine. He asserted that during the crucial night when Indian and Chinese tanks were at a standstill, the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister did not give clear instructions.
The response from the administration was prompt and methodical. Home Minister Amit Shah and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh protested to the reference to a work that was “unpublished and unauthenticated.” Using Rule 349, which forbids members from reading from books or newspapers unrelated to House business, Speaker Om Birla upheld these complaints.
The Counter-Strike of Nishikant Dubey
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey reversed the situation by bringing an actual “library” of books into the House in a traditional tit-for-tat escalation. claiming that more than 150 published publications exposing the alleged “deceit and corruption” of the Nehru-Gandhi family must also be acceptable if an unpublished book could be considered.
Dubey escalated his attack on X by posting a supposedly 1961 letter on the Edwina Mountbatten Memorial Fund that was sent by Jawaharlal Nehru to Field Marshal KM Cariappa. In order to criticize the Congress legacy, Dubey used a long list of contentious titles in his posts and parliamentary speeches, such as:
MO Mathai’s Memoirs: To accuse the early Nehru administration of personal wrongdoing and “debauchery.”
The Red Sari (Javier Moro): To inquire about the Gandhi family’s history and intentions.
The Accidental Prime Minister (Sanjaya Baru): To depict the Manmohan Singh administration as one in which the Gandhi family exerted external influence.
The Great Game’s Shadow: to imply that personal ties harmed national goals during Partition.
On X, Dubey used harsh language when he said, “If I say something, there will be an uproar—will it set the Congress’s Lanka ablaze?” Instead of arguing about “unprinted manuscripts,” he challenged Rahul Gandhi to a debate about “printed books.”
Parliamentary paralysis and the backlash
The Congress retaliated by accusing the administration of “double standards,” under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. She questioned why, in spite of the Speaker’s previous decision against Rahul Gandhi, Dubey’s microphone stayed on while he cited from books. While the BJP’s citations were intended to damage General Naravane’s reputation, the Opposition contended that his book is a matter of public record, even if it was suppressed by the Ministry of Defence.
The consequences have been dire. The Prime Minister’s planned response to the Motion of Thanks on February 4 was canceled as a result of the Lok Sabha’s several adjournments. The “book war” has essentially institutionalized instability in the House, shifting the discussion from current policy to a constant conflict over history, with the opposition demanding the right to quote the former Army Chief and the Treasury benches demanding an apology for “belittling the army.”
