Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a 75-minute Independence Day speech on Saturday, making it his shortest address from the Red Fort in four years and the fourth shortest of his tenure so far.
It was Modi’s 13th consecutive Independence Day speech as prime minister. Last year, he delivered a 103-minute address after speaking for 98 minutes in 2024. Before that, his longest Independence Day speech had been the 96-minute address in 2016, while his shortest remains the 56-minute speech in 2017.
PM Modi first addressed the nation from the Red Fort in 2014, when his speech lasted 65 minutes. The following year, he spoke for 88 minutes. In 2018, his address lasted 83 minutes, followed by nearly 92 minutes in 2019.
In 2020, PM Modi’s Independence Day speech lasted 90 minutes. He then spoke for 88 minutes in 2021, 74 minutes in 2022 and 90 minutes in 2023. On Saturday, he delivered his latest address in 75 minutes.
With his 13th consecutive speech, PM Modi extended the mark he set last year when he went past Indira Gandhi’s record of 12 successive Independence Day addresses from the Red Fort. He now stands behind only Jawaharlal Nehru, who delivered 17 such speeches in a row.
Before PM Modi, the longest Independence Day speeches were delivered by Nehru in 1947, lasting 72 minutes, and IK Gujral in 1997, lasting 71 minutes. Nehru and Indira Gandhi also hold the record for the shortest speeches, with both speaking for 14 minutes in 1954 and 1966, respectively.
Former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also delivered some of the shorter Independence Day addresses from the Red Fort. Singh’s speeches in 2012 and 2013 lasted 32 and 35 minutes, while Vajpayee’s speeches in 2002 and 2003 lasted 25 and 30 minutes.
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Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Aug 15, 2026 10:11 IST
