Shivraj Singh Chouhan clocks fastest rate in speech delivery, beats Modi, may smash Kennedy's record

BHOPAL: Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan may emulate party patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee in oratory skills with an archetypal pause or a raised hand, but he clocks the fastest in speech delivery in comparison to even Narendra Modi or his illustrious predecessors in Madhya Pradesh. He's of course miles ahead of Vajpayee in speed, but not in rhetoric.

From a speed of 180 words per minute (WPM) in 2008, Chouhan now fires 199 to 202 words every 60 seconds. Modi's average speed while replying to questions in the Assembly or his random speeches at rallies fluctuate between 120 to 140 wpm, say experts.

Uma Bharti is close second to Chouhan with 160-180 wpm, according to Vidhan Sabha reporters (government stenographers), who record minute-by-minute proceedings. Chouhan's maximum speed hit 202 wpm during his reply to questions on farmers's crop damage in hailstorm on March 5.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee's historic speech during the confidence motion in parliament on May 27, 1996, after his 13-day government fell, had a speed of 100 wpm. Former Congress chief ministers Arjun Singh, Motilal Vora, S C Shukla and P C Sethi had an identical speed of 80 to 100 wpm.

Reporters feel Chouhan still has to practise harder to beat John F Kennedy who holds the record as the fastest public speaker with a speed of 327 wpm in a speech delivered in December 1961.

"We took two slots of 5 minutes each from his 40-minute verbatim speech in the assembly. Average words per minute was 199 to 202, which is the maximum speed recorded in the assembly so far," said a senior officer at the assembly's reporting branch.

"Chouhan is definitely the fastest speaker. He has raised his speed by around 20 to 40 words in the last five years," says S N Gaur, who has 30 years' experience of noting down verbatim speeches in the Assembly. "After decades of experience in high-speed shorthand, we can easily analyze the speed of delivery," he said.

Mohan Manwani, reporter in assembly since 1985 says: "It's not easy to note down Chouhan's speech. But, we do manage to do without mistakes following clarity in his speech."