Trinamul leader Kunal Ghosh on Saturday accused his party’s Lok Sabha MP and film actor Dev of removing chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s name from a plaque at a hospital in Dev’s constituency, Ghatal, sparking a virtual feud.

“On March 12, the chief minister had virtually inaugurated the dialysis unit at the Ghatal hospital. Local officials also attended the event,” Ghosh wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle. “On September 4, the MP Dev inaugurated the same facility, replacing the CM’s name with the MP’s. This is what a superstar is. The local residents are surprised. Congrats Deb.”

Ghosh’s salvo at the three-time MP came two days after the actor-politician had questioned the purpose of women-centric schemes of both the Centre and the state when they failed to ensure security and safety of women.

“It is true if rapes and attacks on women continue to happen then schemes like Kanyashree, Rupashree, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao become meaningless,” Dev had said on September 5 while interacting with the local media in his constituency.

Dev’s comment had come against the backdrop of the rape and murder of the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at Calcutta’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which has sparked massive protests on the streets of Calcutta and suburban towns by people from all sections of the society.

Dev, probably the biggest star of the Bengali film industry, has represented the Ghatal constituency for three consecutive terms. In the Lok Sabha polls held this summer, he had polled 52.36 per cent of the votes.

Despite his off-screen and on-screen popularity, Dev is known as a reluctant parliamentarian; his attendance has been among the lowest, though he keeps in touch with his constituency.

This time Dev was reportedly not keen to contest the polls and it took the intervention of Mamata Banerjee to convince the actor to file his nomination for the third time.

Dev is not the first from within the Trinamul to draw fire on the crime that has shocked Calcutta and the country.

The Kolkata Police had earlier summoned Trinamul’s Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Shekhar Ray to Lalbazaar for his posts that questioned the role of the cops in the investigation. Since then, Ray has been posting cryptic messages on his social media that can be interpreted as angst against the administration.

Others in the Trinamul like state education minister Bratya Basu and TV funnyman turned MLA Kanchan Mullick had questioned prominent theatre personalities and actors who have hit the streets in solidarity with the protesters.

Some among them have returned the awards conferred to them by the state government in the past few days.

The state government had conferred Dev with the Mahanayak Samman award in 2014, the same year when he became an MP.

When contacted by The Telegraph Online, Dev disconnected the call and did not respond to a text message.

Later on Saturday, Dev responded on X. Replying to Ghosh’s post, Dev wrote: “I had requested Didi to inaugurate the dialysis and scan machine at the Ghatal Hospital. In March she made the announcement virtually. The equipment reached the Ghatal Hospital a week ago. On the request of the Ghatal Hospital authorities I inaugurated the facility so that the residents could avail the facilities. I think the facilities will benefit the common people and not any chief minister, MP, superstar or spokesperson. I am thankful to you for having spread the word around about the latest facilities at the hospital.”

The actor-MP also had a word of caution for his party colleague.

“The situation that we are going through, without verifying facts no comments should be made on social media,” he wrote.

In his message for the people of Ghatal in the same post, he said they wouldn’t have to go to any private healthcare facility or rush to Calcutta hospitals for dialysis and scan as the facilities would be operational from the end of this month.

Soon after, Ghosh fired two salvos in quick succession with almost identical words:

“Didi inaugurated is clear from the picture. Whatever equipment arrives, inauguration cannot be done twice. Pull these tricks in your films. And circumstances? We the working soldiers have been drinking from the chalice-filled poison and becoming targets of hatred. You are playing Chaitanyadeb. In the name of profession and courtesy you have joined hands with those spreading canards,” he wrote.

Many Bengali actors, including Swastika Mukherjee, have been seen in protests over the RG Kar incident. Some have been heckled, including Rituparna Sengupta.