Narendra Modi Makes History with 11th Tricolour Hoisting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday set a new milestone by hoisting the national flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the 11th consecutive time, surpassing the record of his predecessor Manmohan Singh.

With this achievement, Modi becomes the prime minister with the third-highest number of flag hoistings, behind Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Nehru, India's first prime minister, held the record with 17 hoistings from 1947 to 1964, followed by Indira Gandhi who did it 16 times across her two terms.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ranked fourth, having hoisted the flag 10 times during his tenure from 2004 to 2014. Other notable mentions include Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who did it six times, and Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao, both of whom hoisted the flag five times. The historical account also notes that Gulzarilal Nanda and Chandra Shekhar did not have the opportunity to hoist the flag even once during their brief terms in office.

(With inputs from agencies.)