Manmohan now third-longest serving PM

With his Independence Day speech on Sunday — the seventh — Manmohan Singh will edge past predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

With his Independence Day speech on Sunday — the seventh — Manmohan Singh will edge past predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It will also make him the Prime Minister who has addressed the nation the third-highest number of times — Jawaharlal Nehru (17) and Indira Gandhi (16).

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Singh, who was sworn in for the first time in May 2004, on Wednesday became the longest serving Prime Minister after Nehru and Gandhi.

Though targeted for not being a true representative of the people (as a Rajya Sabha MP), Singh’s achievement is no less – coming in the era of coalition politics - unlike the comfortable journey of Nehru and Gandhi.