The video of martyr Captain Shubham Gupta’s mother breaking down in front of the camera as politicians pose with her with a cheque has gone viral drawing flak for the insensitivity of the photo-op. ‘Mere liye pradarshani mat lagao bhai (don’t make an exhibition for me)” Shubham Gupta’s mother appealed as Uttar Pradesh minister Yogendra Upadhyay posed with a cheque in his hand while the cameras clicked.

Shubha Gupta’s grieving mother was made to stand in front of the camera as she went on resisting and saying that she did not want any of it and only wanted her son back.

Sharing the viral video, AAP MP Raghav Chadha said the B in the BJP should stand for Besharam and P for Publicity. “Captain Shuham Gupta made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty during an encounter in the Rajouri sector. His mother is grieving and eagerly awaiting her son’s mortal remains. In the midst of her inconsolable sorrow, UP government’s BJP Minister Yogendra Upadhyay shamelessly persists on having a photograph taken for his PR – this, despite the mother’s plea to refrain from turning her grief into a spectacle. Shame,” the AAP MP wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The official handle of the Congress shared the video and wrote ‘vultures’ condemning the photo-op. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said it was shameless and insensitive. “…the mother is pleading while inconsolable yet the minister continues with his photo op. What shamelessness is this? Won’t even allow the martyr family to grieve in peace minus the cameras. Heartless,” Chaturvedi wrote.

Captain Shubham Gupta, a resident of Agra, was one of the four Indian Ar,y personnel martyred during an encounter in J&K’s Rajouri on November 23. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced a financial assistance of ₹50 lakh to his family and a government job for on of his family members. 27-year-old Shubham is 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 Indian Army in 2015 and in was deployed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. His marriage plans were on the cards.