New Delhi  - Maharashtra state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh offered to resign while his deputy RR Patil, who also held the state's Home Ministry portfolio, stepped down Monday as political heads started rolling in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.

A three-day terrorist siege of India's financial hub and capital of Maharashtra state ended Saturday after 187 people including 28 foreigners had died.

Deshmukh, who belongs to the Congress Party, told reporters that he informed the party leadership of his intention to resign if they deemed it appropriate.

Deshmukh who was criticized for taking well-known film director Ram Gopal Verma on his trip to inspect the damage at the Taj hotel on Sunday, but said he had done nothing wrong.

"Ram Gopal Verma is not a terrorist," he said.

Deputy chief minister Patil already succumbed to pressure to resign after he had described the Mumbai terror attack as a "minor incident."

"I have submitted my resignation letter to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. I have gone by my conscience and decided to take this step," Patil was quoted as saying by NDTV television network Monday.

Patil had told reporters on Saturday that, "in a big city such as Mumbai, incidents like these keep happening."

He is also a member of the coalition of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress Party.

Another party member, Shivraj Patil, resigned from the post of federal home minister on Sunday.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram was switched to the Home Ministry, and Prime Minister Singh assumed the finance portfolio himself.

Both the Patils' resignations come on the heels of increasing evidence that prior intelligence on a possible attack on Mumbai from the sea had not been effectively investigated.

In both the federal government and in Maharashtra state, the home portfolio includes internal security and the minister is in charge of police and intelligence. (dpa)