Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal has said Monday's twin blasts in Mumbai were linked to last year's communal riots in Gujarat.

Mumbai blasts: The complete coverage

In an interview to NDTV India news channel, he said Pakistan-based terrorist groups teamed up with local terror modules to carry out the blasts.

"The Al Hadees group is connected to Lashkar-e-Tayiba. When LeT was banned in Pakistan, it was under this name these people started acting," Bhujbal said.

To a question why such blasts were occurring routinely in Mumbai, he said it all started sometime after the Gujarat incidents and most of the blasts in Mumbai have taken place in Gujarati dominated areas.

About a demand by opposotion parties for his resignation, Bhujbal said: "I am not a coward to run away from the battlefield. I'll fight. I am a man who fights against crisis."