New Delhi -- A day after the terrorist siege of Mumbai ended, claiming 187 lives, political heads started to roll Sunday, even as India's financial hub limped back to normal.

Home Minister Shivrag Patil's resignation was accepted by President Pratibha Patil on Sunday, following the brazen attacks, which disrupted large parts of downtown Mumbai Wednesday through Saturday. The move comes amid widespread anger against the government's stance on terrorism.

As Finance Minister P Chidambaram took over the home ministry portfolio, local news channels reported that Manmohan Singh's government may call on top bureaucrats and other ministers to resign.

There was growing public anger that the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was unable to put a stop to the terrorist attacks and bombings that have hit the country almost every month of late.

More than 400 people have been killed in bombings and attacks across seven Indian cities in 2008.

Hundreds of Mumbai residents gathered in front of the Taj Hotel -- one of the central points of this week's terrorist attacks - and lashed out at politicians for failing to tackle terrorism. Many demanded "political accountability".

"We saw the National Security Guard (NSG), the army and the police at their best while tackling the crisis, but what were the politicians doing? Where were they in those crucial moments?" one protestor asked the IANS news agency.

Author Shoba De, a Mumbai resident, also slammed the government in a television show. "The city would not have suffered the way it has had it not been for the complete and total abrogation of duty and the kind of negligence we have seen, the kind of indifference we have seen," she said.

Sensing that the public mood may cost his Congress party dearly in general elections due in the next few months, Singh desperately sought to salvage his government's image.

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