TMC Actor-MP Dev Vs Kunal Ghosh On Social Media Over Inauguration At Ghatal Hospital: 'This Is Not Cinema'

Trinamool Congress leaders Deepak Adhikari and Kunal Ghosh got into a war of words on social media over the inauguration of a dialysis and CT scan machine facilities at a state hospital.

Trinamool MP and film actor Deepak Adhikari, popularly known as Dev, got into a spat with senior party colleague Kunal Ghosh on social media on Saturday. The fued began over Ghosh's post on social media regarding the inauguration of CT scan and dialysis machine facilities at a state-run hospital in his Ghatal constituency in Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district.

Ghosh had shared two photos of an inauguration from the Ghatal hospital. In one photo, a plaque displaying Dev's name was visible, showing that he had inaugurated the facilities, earlier this week on September 4. The second photo showed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's photo and name on the plaque at the same hospital, indicating the facilities were inaugurated by her in March 11 this year.

He captioned the post: "The dialysis unit at Ghatal Hospital was inaugurated by none other than @MamataOfficial on March 12, virtually. Local authorities were also present. Now, on 4th September, the same unit was inaugurated again by MP Dev. The name of the inaugurator has been changed from the CM to the MP. That's what you call a superstar! The people in the area are quite surprised!"

Responding to Ghosh's post, Dev tweeted that the dialysis and CT scan machines for the unit had only arrived a week ago, and that was when he had gone to the hospital to inagurate them on request from hospital authorities. "Didi (Mamata Banerjee) had made a virtual announcement about setting up the facilities at Ghatal Hospital on March 11. However, once the machines arrived last week, I inaugurated them in person as requested by the hospital authorities so that common people know about this dialysis service of Ghatal Hospital. The fact remains that neither the Chief Minister nor the MP, superstar or spokesperson will benefit from these facilities—the common man will," Dev said in his response in Bengali.

The actor-turned-politician urged Ghosh to verify information before commenting on social media on anything. "Thanks to you, word of this service has reached many more people through you. In the end, I will say one thing, in the situation we are going through, it is better not to comment on social media without verifying the information," he added.

'This Is Not Cinema': Kunal Ghosh

To this, the former Rajya Sabha MP, Ghosh replied: "It is clear from the pictures that an inauguration cannot occur twice with two different inaugurators. This is not cinema. While we, the foot soldiers, are combating toxicity and attacks, you are associating with those badmouthing the government under the guise of professional relations and courtesy."  Ghosh made these remarks in reference to Dev's recent participation in a Bengali film industry gathering in Tollygunge, where actor-turned-BJP leader Roopa Ganguly was also present.

Thereafter, Dev asked Ghosh to not worsen the situation with his comments, alluding to the ongoing protests over the RG Kar rape and murder in Kolkata.