New Delhi, Aug 15 (KNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today delivered his 12th consecutive Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, surpassing Indira Gandhi’s record of 11 back-to-back addresses. He now stands second only to Jawaharlal Nehru, who spoke on 17 consecutive August 15 occasions as India’s first prime minister.
Indira Gandhi, who served as prime minister between 1966–77 and 1980–84, addressed the nation 16 times in total, 11 of them in a row. Nehru, the country’s longest-serving PM, spoke from the Red Fort every year from 1947 to 1963.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
Other prime ministers have varied in their Independence Day appearances — Manmohan Singh delivered 10 consecutive speeches from 2004 to 2014, while Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the nation six times.
Last year, Modi overtook Manmohan Singh’s record of 10 consecutive addresses and also delivered the longest-ever Independence Day speech at 98 minutes.
In his 2024 address, the Prime Minister called for a Uniform Civil Code, describing the current system as discriminatory, and pitched for simultaneous elections across the country.(KNS)