Mamata Banerjee. File pic

New Delhi/Kolkata: Leaders across political parties on Wednesday condemned as "barbaric" a BJP youth wing leader's offer of a Rs 11 lakh bounty on the head of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with his remark setting off an uproar in Parliament. The TMC, which is led by Banerjee, demanded the immediate arrest of Yogesh Varshney, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), while the BJP distanced itself from the controversial remark.

The Centre also roundly condemned the statement and said the West Bengal government was free to take legal action against Varshney. "Mamata government beat up people. If someone was wearing a red shirt or a red pant, they were beaten up brutally by the police. I don't understand...Mamata Banerjee organises Iftar party, she argues for the Muslims. I want to ask her are Hindus not human? "If they had any humanity, they wouldn't have beaten up like this. If anyone brings me her severed head, I will give that person Rs 11 lakh," Varshney said in Aligarh while criticising the police action on a rally in Suri in Birbhum district in West Bengal where slogans in praise of Lord Rama on Hanuman Jayanti yesterday were raised.