The politicians might not have claimed any political casualty but the Mumbai attacks definitely did, the first being Home Minister Shivraj Patil who submitted his resignation. His position is being taken over by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will now be handling the finance portfolio for the moment along with the three others he already holds- coal, environment and forests and information and broadcasting.

Many other political heads seem to be in the line of fire. M K Narayanan also offered to step down but his resignation was not accepted. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chiefs are, however, expected to be substituted, though they retire on December 31 and January 31, respectively. The RAW chief might also be asked to go on leave before retirement.

Also on the block now is the jobs of national Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Defence minister AK Antony had also offered to resign at the CWC meeting held on Saturday evening.

"The time for passing condolence messages and resolutions is gone. The people are angry. Action is required," said Gandhi in her opening speech in the meeting.