India Home Minister Shivraj Patil delivered a resignation letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi Sunday morning, Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said.

India’s Home Minister Shivraj Patil (L) addresses a news conference along with the governor of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand Syed Sibte Razi in Ranchi in this June 11, 2008 file photo. Patil delivered a resignation letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi Sunday morning, Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said.

Patil, facing widespread criticism for the terror attacks in Mumbai, took “moral responsibility” for the attacks and submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Singh, said the Congress spokesperson.

“He (Patil) has taken the moral responsibility and has decided to quit,” Natarajan told reporters.

“It (Mumbai attacks) is horror and the government is taking it very, very seriously. It was an outrageous attack on India’s sovereignty. The most important thing is to protect the country and its citizen,” she said.

Home ministry sources said the prime minister was yet to accept Patil’s resignation.

Patil had offered to step down at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Saturday night. He sent his resignation to Prime Minister Singh on Sunday morning.

The 74-year-old Patil was inducted into the Union Cabinet in the 2004. He has long been a target of the opposition for his handling of the internal security situation in the country.

India Minister of External Affairs Pranab Kumar Mukherjee or Financial Minister Chidambaram will most probably take Patil’s place, according to local NDTV channel.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet