New Delhi, Aug 15: With his 11th consecutive address on Independence Day from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort, Narendra Modi on Thursday became the third Prime Minister to do so.

The record lies with first PM Jawaharlal Nehru who hoisted the flag 17 times from 1947 to 1964.

Nehru is followed by Indira Gandhi who hoisted the national flag 16 times, just one short of her father's record.

Indira Gandhi, however, did not achieve this record in consecutive tenures. She did this in two different stints from 1966-1977 and 1980-1984.

With Thursday's address, PM Modi also broke the record of his immediate predecessor Manmohan Singh who had addressed the nation ten consecutive times in his back-to-back two tenures.

Manmohan Singh was the prime minister of the UPA government for 10 years between 2004 and 2014.

In an interesting piece of information, Gulzarilal Nanda and Chandra Shekhar were the only Prime Ministers who did not get a chance to hoist the Tricolour even once.

Chandra Shekhar was the first prime minister from November 1990 to June 1991. Nanda served the nation for two terms -- May 27 to June 9 in 1964 and January 11 to January 24 in 1966.

Lal Bahadur Shastri and Morarji Desai hoisted the flag two times each.

In his 78th Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined a series of futuristic goals aimed at shaping India's growth, driving innovation, and positioning the country as a global leader across various sectors.

He also cautioned the people to protect the country from pessimistic people who cannot see India's progress.

The Prime Minister made a compelling case for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), stating that it was the need of the hour to have a secular civil code and do away with discriminatory communal civil code.

PM Modi in his address to the nation mentioned the atrocities against women taking place in the country and said extensive discussion on those receiving punishment be held so that those sinning understand that this leads to hanging.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also highlighted the contribution of the middle class to the country's development and assured minimum government interference.

--IANS

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