By IANS,
New, Delhi : Owning moral responsibility for any failure and stepping down from public offices has been a Congress tradition, the party said Tuesday as heads began to roll in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attack.
“The Congress has always believed in the accountability of public offices. Resigning from the public offices on moral grounds has been the tradition of the party. Resignations of Shivraj Patil (as home minister) and Vilasrao Deshmukh (as chief minister) are in line of this tradition,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters.
Shivraj Patil offered his resignation Saturday in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist massacre that claimed 183 lives. It was accepted the next day and P. Chidambram was given the charge of the home ministry.
Deshmukh offered his resignation Monday though the party was yet to decide on it.
Criticising the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Singhvi said: “No one in BJP ever even dreamt of offering to resign even after repeated terrorist attacks during National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime – be it the parliament attack (December 13, 2001) or the attack on the Red Fort (December 22, 2000).”
He, however, avoided a query if National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan would also step down.