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PM Modi now second only to Nehru in consecutive Independence Day speeches, overtakes Indira Gandhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on the Independence Day on August 15, 2025, from Red Fort, Delhi.
With his 12th Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi overtook former PM Indira Gandhi in delivering consecutive speeches from the Red Fort. He is now second to India's First Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru when it comes to delivering speeches year after year.
It is pertinent to note that Nehru has given the most number of consecutive Independence Day speeches, i.e. 17 between 1947 and 1963. In her two different terms between 1966-77 and 1980-84, Indira Gandhi addressed 16 times in total, with only 11 of those being consecutive.
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Modi, who first spoke from the Red Fort in 2014, broke Manmohan Singh's record of 11 consecutive addresses. Singh delivered 11 speeches when he served as the country's PM from 2024 to 2014.
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Meanwhile, leaders who had shorter runs were. Lal Bahadur Shastri spoke twice, Morarji Desai and PV Narasimha Rao each for four years and Atal Bihari Vajpayee for six years during his tenure from 1998 to 2004. VP Singh addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of Independence Day only once in 1990.
HD Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral also delivered the I-Day speech once in 1996 and 1997, respectively.
Longest I-Day speech
Crossing the 100-minute mark, Prime Minister Modi delivered his longest Independence Day speech on Friday. PM Modi broke his record of delivering the longest Independence Day speech by an Indian Prime Minister. Last year, his address lasted for 98 minutes. It is pertinent to note that Modi's Independence Day speeches average at 82 minutes — longer than any other prime minister in India's history.
This year, the speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort clocked at an impressive 103 minutes. The Prime Minister covered a wide range of topics in his address. This included offering a comprehensive overview of the government's achievements and outlining a roadmap for the future, anchored in the vision of a Naya Bharat and a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
During his address, he also shared his 'Made In India' wishlist, urging the Indian youth and scientists to develop Indian fighter jets and semiconductor chips.
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Manmohan Singh's government launched the ambitious project to connect more than 2.5 lakh gram panchayats through broadband by laying optical fibre throughout the length and breadth of the country, systematically strengthening the foundation for a truly digital India. These are massive milestones in India's technological journey; discounting and underplaying the contributions of previous leaders of the nation is a disservice to the country's history. The government appears to seek credit for India becoming the fourth largest economy in the world in the last few years. But there is more to this macro-economic data. What the claim misses entirely is an analysis of the 'average'. From a per-person perspective, India as a country of about 140 crore people, still remains in the list of lower middle income countries with a per-capita GDP of $2,711. For comparison, the per capita GDP of Sri Lanka is $4,325, and Bhutan is $3,913. We have overtaken Japan's GDP and are now eyeing Germany's GDP in order to become the third largest economy. But it is important to note that both these countries have a population of approximately 12 crore and 8 crore, respectively. That is roughly the size of two states in India. Japan's per capita GDP is about $33,767 and Germany's is $54,343. India's closest country in terms of population is China with a per capita GDP of $12,614. A true measure of India's economic success must be tested on the per-person data point. It is the surest indicator to assess whether we are punching above our weight or not. The BJP has also been incessantly trying to draw political mileage from Operation Sindoor. Today's address by the PM was no different. Importantly, this was another instance where the issue of whether the claim by the President of the United States that he ensured a ceasefire between India and Pakistan is true, was completely ducked. 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