Singh is third PM to hoist Flag 7 times at Red Fort

This is despite the Opposition accusing him of being a “weak prime minister” and his speech of not addressing grave issues such as Kashmir problem and price rise. By hoisting the tricolour on Sunday morning, Singh overtook his predecessor Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has unfurled the National Flag six times from the majestic Mughal monument.

The historic Red Fort has seen Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, hoisting the National Flag 17 times. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, has done it 16 times. While Nehru first hoisted the Tricolour at the Red Fort on August 15, 1947, after India became independent, Manmohan Singh first unfurled the flag on August 15, 2004, three months after he assumed office as the 14th premier.

Singh, who assumed office on May 22, last year, for the second consecutive term, already has the distinction of being the third-longest serving PM in the country after Nehru and his daughter Indira.

Chandrashekhar (November 1990-June 1991) was the only premier who could not make a single Independence Day speech from the Red Fort. Gulzari Lal Nanda, who was interim PM briefly after the death of Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri, also could not deliver such a speech.