Cong refuses to comment on excerpts of Arjun Singh's book

"The book has not been released as yet. When it is released, we will see what it carries," was the only refrain by the party spokesperson Rashid Alvi to repeated questions.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Congress leader said the party would like to avoid controversy on the issue as there is no point in reacting prematurely on it.

A part of the book points out that late P V Narasimha Rao had reacted to the suggestion that Sonia Gandhi be made the Congress chief after the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi in May, 1991 asking why should the Congress party be hitched to the Nehru-Gandhi family like train compartments to the engine.

The book, which meanders through the turbulent times of Congress, is expected to revisit many uncomfortable phases of the party's history.