Man named author of book on Mann Ki Baat show has ‘nothing to do with it’: Arun Shourie to NDTV
A Press Information Bureau press release about the book, Mann Ki Baat: A Social Revolution on Radio, said Rajesh Jain, a former aide to the PM, is the author.
The man named the author of a book about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat radio show “had absolutely nothing to do with this book”, former Union minister Arun Shourie claimed while speaking to NDTV on Tuesday.
A Press Information Bureau press release about the book, Mann Ki Baat: A Social Revolution on Radio said Rajesh Jain, a former aide to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the author.
However, Shourie told NDTV: “Jain is my friend. He told me he had been dragged into the book release function, and was given a speech to read.”
When NDTV clarified with Jain, he said, “I was not the author of the book and was surprised to see my name as author.” Jain told the news channel that he was working with a firm called Bluekraft Digital Foundation, which used to organise PM Modi’s Mann ki Baat broadcasts during the release of the book.
Book’s author shown as former Modi aide Rajesh Jain. But Shourie says Jain told him he never wrote the book! Says he was forced to fly in and claim authorship.
— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) April 3, 2018
Just spoke to former Modi aide Rajesh Jain. He confirms #ArunShourie claim that he is not the author of Mann Ki Baat book, released in President House last year. Says he said as much at the launch. Yet PIB site still shows him as author. @OnReality_Check
— Sreenivasan Jain (@SreenivasanJain) April 3, 2018
Jain claimed the Prime Minister’s Office asked him to attend the event in May 2017. “There, I found that my name was printed on the cards as an author,” he said and added that even at the event, he had made it clear that he did not write the book. “Despite this, the Press Information Bureau site and PM Modi’s website continue to show me as the author,” he said.
The Press Information Bureau website carries three press releases about the book. The three statements describe Sinha’s contribution differently, NDTV pointed out. The first release on May 25, 2017 said the book is “by Rajesh Jain”. The second one, published a day later, said the book was “authored by Shri Rajesh Jain”. The third, published the same evening said the book was “compiled by Mr Rajesh Jain.”
Press Information Bureau spokesperson Frank Noronha did not respond to Rajesh Jain’s claim that he had not written or compiled the book, but said the PIB press release “mentions that the book has been compiled by Mr Rajesh Jain. There is no mention that he is the author of the book”.