NEW DELHI — The author of a "fictionalised biography" of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born power broker of Indian politics, has vowed to fight attempts to stop it being published.
Javier Moro said allies of Gandhi were "taking lines out of context and manipulating the text" as part of a campaign by India's elite to have the book banned and protect her from scrutiny.
Gandhi is the widow of assassinated former prime minster Rajiv Gandhi and -- as president of the ruling Congress party -- is widely thought to be preparing the way for her son Rahul, 39, to become the country's next leader.
"India is a democratic country which respects freedom of speech," Moro told the Press Trust of India news agency in comments released on Sunday. "I don't need permission to publish the book".
"The Red Sari: When Life is the Price of Power" has already been published in Italy and Spain, and touches on the sensitive subject of Sonia Gandhi's foreign birth and upbringing, and the fact that she had to learn Hindi.
