New Delhi: 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. 

Singh also said that the Supreme Court order directing a floor test in Maharashtra assembly on Wednesday "has to be respected". 

He made the remarks to reporters at a joint opposition protest in front of the Ambedkar statue inside Parliament complex against the BJP's alleged high-handedness in Maharashtra.
 
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."
 
In his address to a joint sitting of Parliament to mark the Constitution Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Indian Constitution is a sacred text "for us". 

"It is a book that encompasses our life, our society, our traditions and beliefs and also solutions to new challenges," Modi said.