UP minister forces cheque on slain captain’s mom, faces flak

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Agra: The BJP which has been facing heat for a perceived security failure in Rajouri district in Jammu where an encounter took the lives of five Indian soldiers, found itself in the midst of a fresh row on Friday.

A video went viral wherein Uttar Pradesh Minister for Higher Education Yogendra Upadhyay was seen forcing a cheque on the inconsolable mother of Captain Shubham Gupta, who was one of the slain.

The incident occurred at Gupta’s Agra residence. The slain captain’s mother appears to be mourning in the video and is seen rejecting the cheque.

She is heard saying: “I don’t want this” and “stop this publicity” but Upadhyay and his retinue insist on pushing two separate cheques on her while having their pictures clicked.

Netizens noted that the practice of politicians handing over cheques to the family members was commonplace but there was no need for them to be photographed for the news media, adding that the incident involving the UP minister was especially insensitive.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties at the Centre and UP slammed the BJP with Congress’s official handle on X branding the saffron party leader “vultures”.

The principal Opposition in UP, the Samajwadi Party’s (SP’s) X account demanded that Upadhayay and co apologise. Captain Shubham Gupta had been a member of the Nine Para SF (Special Forces).

Two members of the Kashmiri insurgent group Lashkar-e-Taiba were also killed in the shoot-out.