Home minister Shivraj Patil resigns

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, under tremendous criticism over a spate of terrorist attacks in the country since last year, resigned today in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes.

Patil, who had offered to step down at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting last night, sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this morning, sources said.

The 74-year-old Patil was inducted into the Union Cabinet despite his defeat from Latur in Maharashtra in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls and has been a target of the opposition as also the detractors within the party over his handling of the internal security situation in the country.