PM Modi is all set to deliver his 12th consecutive Independence Day speech on Friday, a milestone that comes months after India launched Operation Sindoor. After recently going past Indira Gandhi's record of tenure for a consecutive period as prime minister, PM Modi, with his 12th Independence Day address, will edge ahead of her 11 consecutive speeches from the ramparts of Red Fort to stand only next to Jawaharlal Nehru in terms of number of the Red Fort addresses in a row.
Indira Gandhi delivered 16 addresses as PM on August 15
Indira Gandhi held the office between January 1966 and March 1977, and then between January 1980 till her assassination in October 1984. In total, she has delivered 16 addresses as prime minister on August 15.
PM Modi's speeches on August 15 invariably touch on key issues of the day and the country's growth on his watch, and he often intersperses this with announcements of policy initiatives or new schemes.
In his 98-minute address on August 15 in 2024, he had made an unequivocal pitch for a "secular" civil code instead of the current framework which is "communal" and promoted "discrimination", and also for simultaneous polls.
His government's muscular stand against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and naxalism has been a regular highlight in Modi's annual speeches, and this year is unlikely to be any different.
How many times have Indian PMs delivered speech from Red Fort?
1947 to 1963: Jawaharlal Nehru, India's longest-serving Prime Minister, addressed the nation 17 times from the Red Fort.
1964 and 1965: The second Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri, delivered speeches from the Red Fort ramparts for two Independence Days in 1964 and 1965.
1966 to 1976 and 1980 to 1984: Indira Gandhi addressed the nation 16 times between 1966 and 1976 (11 times) and 1980 to 1984 (5 times).
1977 and 1978: Post-emergency, Morarji Desai delivered the Prime Minister's address twice at Red Fort.
1979: Chaudhari Charan Singh gave an Independence Day speech only once in 1979.
1985 to 1989: After the assassination of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi carried out the honours of the Prime Minister's speech five times from Red Fort.
1990: VP Singh addressed the nation from the rampart of Red Fort on the occasion of Independence Day only once.
1991 to 1995: PV Narsimha Rao addressed the nation for four consecutive years from the Red Fort.
1996: HD Deve Gowda delivered the speech for a single time on Independence Day.
1997: Inder Kumar Gujral delivered a single Independence Day speech from the Red Fort.
1998 to 2004: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who served the nation as Prime Minister from March 1998 to May 2004, addressed the gathering on the occasion of Independence Day six times.
2004 to 2014: Manmohan Singh addressed the nation for ten years from 2004 to 2014.
From 2014: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation from the Red Fort 11 times. This year it will be his 12th address from the Red Fort.
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