Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his longest Independnce Day speech on Thursday, at 98 minutes. The theme for this year's Independence Day was 'Viksit Bharat @ 2047'.
In his speech, PM Modi urged citizens to help make India a developed country by 2047, which will mark 100 years of Independence. He also sought to highlight the strength and courage of India's Independence-era population for ending the British rule.
"If 40 crore Indians could do this, then 140 crore Indians of my family can do wonders. If they take one pledge, then, despite all challenges, we can make a Viksit Bharat by 2047," PM Modi added.
The speech delivered by PM Modi on Thursday was the longest I-Day address by any prime minister in India’s history. His longest I-day speech before clocked in at 96 minutes in 2016, while his shortest speech was in 2017, when he spoke for around 56 minutes.
This was PM Modi’s 11th year addressing the nation from the Red Fort. This makes him the third prime minister to achieve this milestone, after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
PM Modi’s first Independence Day speech in 2014 lasted 65 minutes. Over the years, his speeches have varied in length: from 74 minutes in 2022, to 83 in 2018. It was 92 minutes in 2019, 90 minutes in 2020, and 88 minutes in 2021 & 2015. Last year’s speech clocked in at 90 minutes.
Before PM Modi, Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 and I.K. Gujral in 1997 had the longest I-Day 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 delivered some of the shortest speeches from the Red Fort. Manmohan Singh’s addresses 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.