Shivraj Patil offered to resign at CWC meeting

Home Minister Shivraj Patil offered to quit at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting late last night held in the backdrop of the Mumbai terror strikes, party sources said on Sunday.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil offered to quit at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting late last night held in the backdrop of the Mumbai terror strikes, party sources said on Sunday.

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Patil told the meeting that as the Home minister he "takes the responsibility and whatever the CWC decides, I am ready to do", they said.

Patil's remarks suggesting that he was ready to step down came in the wake of criticism by several leaders including union ministers over the way the internal security situation was being handled at the Central level, the sources said.

Besides Patil, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was also present at the meeting, came under attack on the terror strikes issue, they said.

The leaders who voiced criticism on the issue included union ministers P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal and H R Bhardwaj, they said.