Independence Day Red Fort Address: Shortest And Longest Speeches, Other Interesting Facts

India will celebrate its 79th Independence Day tomorrow. Preparations are complete across the country and many programmes are lined up.

On this day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address citizens from the Red Fort in Delhi and also hoist the national flag.

Here are some facts about speeches given by leaders from the Red Fort on Independence Day:

PM Modi To Hoist National Flag For 12th Time

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation from the Red Fort for the 12th consecutive time. He is on the third spot of prime ministers who hoisted the national flag the most number of times at the Red Fort on Independence Day.

India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, holds the record of hoisting the flag 17 times. Next is former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who hoisted the national flag 16 times.

Longest Speech Record

PM Modi holds the record of giving the longest speech from the Red Fort. He spoke for 98 minutes in 2024. Before him, Jawaharlal Nehru gave a speech of 72 minutes in 1947; this record was broken by PM Modi with his speech that lasted 88 minutes in 2015.

Record For Shortest Speech

Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi are also known for their shortest speeches - 14 minutes. The shortest address next was by former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

PM Modi gave his first speech from the Red Fort in 2014. It was 65 minutes long. He has since then given many long speeches from the Red Fort. Will he break his own record of 98 minutes?

This time too PM Modi is likely to give a message to all the countries from the Red Fort. He may mention India's highly successful Operation Sindoor, and his vision for the future of the nation.