A year after the terrorist attack that cost him his job, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said government officials too should be held accountable for their lapses, if any.

“Politicians in power don’t go to the borders (to fight the enemy), but public outrage is always directed against them and so we resigned owning moral responsibility,” Deshmukh, now Union Minister for Heavy Industries, told The Indian Express over the phone from Delhi, adding that politicians could not be held personally responsible for lapses.

“Now that R R Patil is back as (Maharashtra) Home Minister, (it) proves that he was not personally responsible. I am happy that he is back,” Deshmukh said.

Asked about the possibility of action against bureaucrats, he said, “It is true that accountability is also applicable to the bureaucracy. The Ram Pradhan Committee has submitted its report. Let us see.”

Deshmukh and his deputy Patil were forced to step down after the attacks. Patil triggered outrage for appearing to play down the incident as a small one of the type that is common in a large city like Mumbai, and Deshmukh drew flak for taking his actor son Riteish and filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma on what was seen as a guided tour of terror locations.

Deshmukh was upset at being removed, and is known to have complained privately that while politicians were made scapegoats, officials had got away lightly. A year on, after having entered the Rajya Sabha and become a Central minister, he has for the first time gone public with these views.

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