THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Displeased by the sudden controversies that clouded his new book, ISRO chairman S Somanath decided to withhold the release of his autobiography 'Nilavu kudicha Simhangal' for the time being. Somanath was forced into such a decision after controversies erupted following the revelation of strong infighting within ISRO for the chairman post. Somanath has suggested to the publishers to stop the release of the book. The ISRO chief also cancelled his Sharjah trip that was planned to promote the book. The book was all set to be released in the upcoming Sharjah festival.

S Somnath revealed in his autobiography that K Sivan tried to prevent him from becoming the chairman. The ISRO chairman also talks about the reason behind the failure of the Chandrayaan 2 mission in his book.

'When the chairman changed in 2018, my name was on the list along with K Sivan, who was still in extension after the age of 60. I thought it was my turn to become the new ISRO chief, but Sivan was selected breaking all odds. Albeit being selected as the new chairman of ISRO, K Sivan continued to remain as the director of VSSC. If followed merit, the director post should have been for me, so I enquired about this with Sivan directly. He was reluctant to answer and evaded every time. Later I got the director post only because of the crucial intervention from former VSSC director B N Suresh” revealed Somanath.

"Sivan tried to extend his tenure as chairman instead of retiring after three years. When it was time to choose the next chairman, shrewdly enough, the director of U R Rao Satellite Centre was brought to the space commission, just to give me a hint about the chairman post slipping yet again from me.”

According to Somanath, the book was mainly aimed at the younger generation, to make them understand the struggles in life and how to surpass such difficulties. Some books were given to press people as part of the preview, and it was through them that the controversies brewed up.