Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday delivered a 103-minute Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the longest by any prime minister in India’s history.
Modi broke his own 98-minute record from the 78th Independence Day last year.
His longest Independence Day speech before 2024 was 96 minutes in 2016, while his shortest speech was in 2017 when he spoke for 56 minutes.
On India’s 79th Independence Day, Modi also broke Indira Gandhi’s record by delivering 12 consecutive speeches from Red Fort, standing next only to Jawaharlal Nehru, who delivered 17 Independence Day addresses in a row.
Modi delivered his first Independence Day speech in 2014, which lasted 65 minutes.
His speech in 2015 lasted for 88 minutes. In 2018, Modi’s address from the ramparts of the Red Fort was 83 minutes. Subsequently, in 2019, he spoke for nearly 92 minutes.
In 2020, the PM’s Independence Day address lasted 90 minutes.
His speech in 2021 lasted 88 minutes, and in 2022, he spoke for 74 minutes. In 2023, Modi’s speech was 90 minutes.
Before Modi, Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 and IK Gujral in 1997 had the longest speeches at 72 and 71 minutes, respectively.
Nehru and Indira Gandhi also gave the shortest speeches on record at 14 minutes in 1954 and 1966, respectively.
Former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also gave some of the shortest Independence Day speeches from the Red Fort.
Singh’s speeches in 2012 and 2013 lasted only 32 and 35 minutes, respectively. Vajpayee’s speeches in 2002 and 2003 were even shorter at 25 and 30 minutes.
