PM Modi’s Independence Day speech shortest in 4 years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a 75-minute Independence Day speech on August 15, 2026, marking the shortest speech in four years and his fourth shortest ever. This followed a 103-minute speech on India's 79th Independence Day in 2025, breaking his previous record of a 98-minute address in 2024. His longest speech before 2024 was 96 minutes in 2016, while his shortest was 56 minutes in 2017. Modi delivered his 13th consecutive Independence Day speech from the Red Fort. In 2025, he broke Indira Gandhi’s record of 12 consecutive speeches, matching Jawaharlal Nehru’s 17 speeches in a row. His first speech in 2014 lasted 65 minutes, with subsequent years ranging from 83 to 92 minutes. In 2020, his speech lasted 90 minutes, and in 2021, it was 88 minutes. In 2022, it was 74 minutes. Before Modi, Nehru and I.K. Gujral had the longest speeches at 72 and 71 minutes, respectively. Nehru and Indira Gandhi gave the shortest speeches at 14 minutes in 1954 and 1966. Former PMs Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee also delivered shorter speeches, with Singh’s speeches in 2012 and 2013 lasting 32 and 35 minutes, and Vajpayee’s speeches in 2002 and 2003 lasting 25 and 30 minutes.