NEW DELHI, Aug 15: Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a 75-minute Independence Day address from the Red Fort on Saturday, making it his shortest speech on the occasion in the past four years and his fourth shortest since he became prime minister.
The duration was considerably lower than his 103 minute address on the 79th Independence Day in 2025, which was his longest Independence Day speech. In 2024, Modi had spoken for 98 minutes.
His longest address before 2024 lasted 96 minutes in 2016. The shortest Independence Day speech of his tenure came in 2017, when he addressed the nation for 56 minutes.
Saturday’s address marked Modi’s 13th consecutive Independence Day speech from the Red Fort. In 2025, he surpassed former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s record of 12 consecutive Independence Day addresses from the historic venue. He now ranks second to Jawaharlal Nehru, who delivered 17 consecutive speeches from the Red Fort.
Modi’s first Independence Day address as prime minister in 2014 lasted 65 minutes. His subsequent speeches varied in length, with the 2015 address lasting 88 minutes and the 2018 speech running for 83 minutes.
He spoke for nearly 92 minutes in 2019, followed by a 90-minute address in 2020. The speeches in 2021 and 2022 lasted 88 and 74 minutes, respectively, while his 2023 address extended to 90 minutes.
Historical records show that some former prime ministers delivered considerably shorter Independence Day addresses. Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1947 speech lasted 72 minutes, while I K Gujral addressed the nation for 71 minutes in 1997.
Nehru and Indira Gandhi also delivered two of the shortest recorded Independence Day speeches, each lasting 14 minutes in 1954 and 1966, respectively.
Former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also had brief addresses during their tenures. Singh’s speeches in 2012 and 2013 lasted 32 and 35 minutes, while Vajpayee spoke for 25 minutes in 2002 and 30 minutes in 2003.