Another top Indian politician offered to resign on Monday over the Mumbai attacks, which have upset relations with nuclear-rival Pakistan and undermined the government ahead of general elections due by May.

Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, a member of the ruling Congress party, said on Monday he had offered to resign over the attacks that killed 183 people and locked India's financial capital in a three-day siege.

'I have offered to resign,' Deshmukh told reporters, adding he was waiting for party leaders to make a final decision. His deputy, RR Patil, has already resigned, according to media reports.

His offer follows the resignation of home minister Shivraj Patil on Sunday, and prime minister Manmohan Singh's announcement of a wide-ranging overhaul of the nation's counter-terrorism capabilities.

Singh opened cross-party talks on setting up a federal agency of investigation after the attacks.

The resignations are not likely to be the last, with public anger now of a different order to what it has been during previous terrorist incidents, said a source.

Questions are also being raised over whether all the gunmen have been found. Only 10 militants have been identified, one of them captured alive.

According to police report, personal belongings of 15 men were found aboard an abandoned ship from which the attacks were launched has raised questions as to whether all the gunmen have been found.

On Monday, Mumbai began to return to normal with markets and schools open and heavy traffic on the streets.