AGRA: Outrage flooded social media platforms on Friday as videos surfaced showing the mother of the deceased Captain Shubham Gupta, breaking down in front of cameras while politicians stood by with a cheque, seemingly staging a photo opportunity.

“Mere liye pradarshani mat lagao bhai (don’t put on a show for me)… Please bring my son back,” her sobs resonated in one of the distressing videos.

UP cabinet minister Yogendra Upadhyay and Agra Cantt MLA GS Dharmesh were captured holding cheques while the cameras rolled, prompting widespread criticism.

Opposition politicians swiftly utilized social media to condemn this perceived act of exploiting grief for public attention. AAP MP Raghav Chadha expressed outrage, stating, “Captain Shubham Gupta made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. His mother is grieving and eagerly awaiting her son’s mortal remains. In the midst of her inconsolable sorrow, UP government’s BJP minister shamelessly persists in having a photograph taken for his PR – this, despite the mother’s plea to refrain from turning her grief into a spectacle. Shame.”

Shiv Sena (Uddhav) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also chimed in, highlighting the insensitivity of continuing a photo-op despite the mother’s plea. The Congress official handle labeled the act as “vultures,” while the Samajwadi Party demanded an apology from the minister for the incident.

Captain Shubham Gupta, a 27-year-old resident of Agra, was one of the five Army personnel killed during an encounter in J&K’s Rajouri on November 23. Survived by his father Basant Gupta, a district government counsel at a civil court in Agra, his mother Pushpa Gupta, and younger brother Rishabh Gupta, Shubham joined the Army in 2015 and was deployed to J&K in 2019.

The final rites, attended by hundreds, were conducted with full military honors at Kuan Kheda, Shubham’s paternal village, on Friday.

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