Narendra Modi marked his 11th consecutive Independence Day speech from the historic Red Fort, becoming only the third Prime Minister to achieve this milestone.
The record for the most consecutive Independence Day addresses belongs to Jawaharlal Nehru, who celebrated the occasion 17 times from 1947 to 1964.
Nehru's successor, Indira Gandhi, is next with 16 addresses. Unlike Nehru, her tenure was not consecutive; she served two separate terms from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984.
With his speech on Thursday, Modi surpassed the record set by his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, who addressed the nation ten times in his consecutive two terms between 2004 and 2014.
Interestingly, Gulzarilal Nanda and Chandra Shekhar are the only Prime Ministers who did not have the opportunity to raise the national flag. Nanda served in two brief intervals: from May 27 to June 9, 1964, and from January 11 to January 24, 1966, while Chandra Shekhar was in office from November 1990 to June 1991.
Lal Bahadur Shastri and Morarji Desai were the two who did it twice.
Modi, in his 78th Independence Day address, set out an ambitious target of achievements in India's future vis-à-vis leading the world on innovation, and called upon citizens to be more vigilant against forces who are 'undermining' its progress.
As Modi pitched for a Uniform Civil Code, he said that it is necessary to have uniformity for a secular framework of laws and to eliminate discrimination.
The Prime Minister opined on violence against women that there was a prerequisite for stringent discourse supported by effective punishment to serve as a deterrent.
The Prime Minister also acknowledged the contribution of the middle class toward national development and assured minimum government interference in their affairs.
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