New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and other parliamentarians Thursday paid homage to the first president of Independent India, Rajendra Prasad, on his 125th birth anniversary.

'The prime minister and the speaker led the nation in paying floral tributes at the portrait of Dr. Rajendra Prasad in the central hall of the parliament today (Thursday),' a Lok Sabha press statement said.

Other dignitaries who paid tribute to Rajendra Prasad included former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Leader of the House (Lok Sabha) Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) L.K. Advani.

Rajendra Prasad as a leader of the Congress party played a prominent role in the Indian freedom movement. He served as president of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the constitution of the Indian Republic from 1948 to 1950. He also served as a cabinet minister briefly in the first government of independent India.