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New Delhi: Under fire for his inept handling of growing incidents of terror attacks in the country, federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil has said the onus is on the Congress party leadership to decide his fate.
While the Congress and its allies in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) remain a house divided over growing demands for his resignation, Patil made it amply clear that he has no plans to resign, adding that he will quit only when party chief Sonia Gandhi asked him to go.
In an interview with a the NDTV India channel, a visibly hurt Patil confessed that he is not in much demand. "I am here just because of them. I have no group either. It's only that the leadership supports me that I continue to stay here," Patil said.
His continuation in the hot seat has already become a bone of contention and has put the Congress leadership in a fix.
Uninspiring
While one section wants him to go due to his lacklustre and uninspiring performance as home minister, others feel it would be akin to playing into the hands of the opposition and admitting that the government has failed in tackling terrorism effectively.
"It's too late and may not serve any purpose. It will be okay if he takes responsibility for the failure and quits on his own. But firing him would certainly give a wrong signal at a time when several states are slated to go to polls in the next few months and Lok Sabha elections are fast approaching," said a Congress party general secretary on the sidelines of a function organised by a group of Parliamentarians in honour of the visiting Nepalese premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda on Tuesday.
Many in the party feel that Patil has shrewdly tried to silence his detractors by putting the onus on Sonia, knowing fully well that she may not take any stand on the issue.
Party insiders say that he continues to be a favourite of Sonia.
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