Modi set to deliver 11th I-Day address

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unfurl the national flag for the 11th time in a row on Thursday on Independence Day -- the centrepiece annual event where he lays out his government's agenda, presents its report card, makes important policy and programme announcements and speaks about burning issues.

His first Independence Day address of his third term will take him past Manmohan Singh, who unfurled the tricolour 10 times from the ramparts of Red Fort during 2004-2014, and place him behind Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who did the honours 17 and 16 times respectively.

While the theme of 'Viksit Bharat' is expected to animate his address, there is a view that the crisis in Bangladesh, especially the targeting of minority Hindus, may find a mention in his speech, more so as Hindutva groups have strongly taken up the issue and hit the streets. Modi may also speak about the mandate for his government for a third straight term, though with a reduced majority, and dwell at length on how reforms, development programmes and welfare measures rolled out in the last 10 years have impacted the lives of the people.