With public anger mounting over the ease with which terrorists slipped in and held Mumbai and the nation hostage, the first political head rolled today when Home Minister Shivraj Patil was finally forced out of the Cabinet and replaced by P Chidambaram whose Finance portfolio will now be with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy R R Patil too were in the line of fire and Congress sources indicated that Deshmukh could well be on his way out. There was also speculation on the continuance of National Security Advisor M K Narayanan but sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said he would be staying on.

The appointment of Chidambaram, handpicked by Manmohan Singh in 2004 to lead the Finance team, signalled that the Home Minister and the PM would now work in tandem.

Patil offered his resignation towards the end of a three-hour long meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) late Saturday evening after he came under attack for repeatedly failing to prevent terror attacks which have claimed over 400 lives this year alone.

While Patil tried to explain what the government planned to do to tighten internal security, Congress president Sonia Gandhi set the tone for the meeting: “The time for intent is over. The nation is looking to us for decisive action and determined leadership.”

Defence Minister A K Antony also offered to quit if the party felt he was in any way responsible. “If there is any failure at the naval end, I am ready to quit,” Antony said. His party colleagues, however, rejected his offer. It was in sharp contrast to the “hushed” response Patil drew when he handed over his resignation letter to the PM at the meeting. He gave a copy of the letter to Gandhi. His resignation was accepted this morning.

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