Parliament Winter Session LIVE: Proof of pudding is in eating: Manmohan Singh’s dig at PM hailing Constitution

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday said parliamentarians should be a role model in fulfilling duties prescribed in the Constitution.

Underlining the importance of duties in the Constitution, Birla said if citizens turn away from duties and talk only of rights, it creates an imbalance which impedes development of the country.

Addressing members of both houses of Parliament in the Central Hall of Parliament on Constitution day, he said, "It is high time that all MPs should be a role model for the people not only in enjoying rights but also in fulfilling duties and also reminding others of the same."

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh took a dig at his successor Narendra Modi on Tuesday for his remarks hailing the Constitution, saying "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" and the way the Centre has behaved in Maharashtra it is not certain that constitutional norms are safe.

Asked about Prime Minister Modi hailing the Constitution, Singh said, "Well I think the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The way the central government has behaved in Maharashtra, it is not certain that constitutional norms are safe in the hands of present establishment." On the Supreme Court ordering that the floor test in Maharashtra assembly for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to prove his majority in the House will be conducted on Wednesday, Singh said whatever is the decision of the court, it has to be respected.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi leading the opposition protest against the murder of democracy by reading out the Preamble of the Constitution of India at the parliament marking Constitution Day

Leaders of Opposition parties, including Congress' Sonia Gandhi, former PM and Congress leader Manmohan Singh and Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant, hold a protest in front of the Ambedkar Statue in Parliament.