Dharmaveer Anand Dighe was a senior leader &

Thane district Thane district (Pronunciation: �ʰaːɳe previously named Taana or Thana) is a district in the Konkan Division of Maharashtra, India. At the 2011 Census it was the most populated district in the country, with 11,060,148 inhabitants; however, i ...

Unit Chief of

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...

. He mentored many young politicians from Thane region such as

Eknath Shinde Eknath Sambhaji Shinde (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, knaːt̪ʰ ʃin̪d̪e born 9 February 1964) is an Indian politician and president of Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, Shivsena serving as the 20th and Current List of chief ministers of Maha ...

Rajan Vichare Rajan Vichare (born 1 August 1961) is an Indian politician and a Shiv Sena member of parliament representing Thane, Maharashtra in the 17th Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian Parliament). He has also previously been a member of the Maharasht ...

Career

Dighe joined politics at young age. He became President of

Shivsena Shiv Sena (IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bombay ...

's Thane Unit in 1984. Dighe was a

grassroot A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

leader with a large fan base. He was popularly known as ''Dharmaveer''. He was considered a powerful muscleman in Thane. He would hold a daily

Durbar Durbar can refer to: * Conference of Rulers, a council of Malay monarchs * Durbar festival, a yearly festival in several towns of Nigeria * Durbar floor plate, a hot-rolled structural steel that has been designed to give excellent slip resistance ...

at his Tembhi Naka residence to hear out/resolve issues faced by Thane citizens along with

party workers. Dighe was accused in the murder of Shiv Sena party member Sridhar Khopkar, who had allegedly voted for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

in 1989. Dighe was arrested under

TADA Tada or TADA may refer to: Places * Tada, Nellore district, a village in Andhra Pradesh, India * Tada mandal, in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India * Tada Shrine, in Kawanishi, Hyōgo, Japan * Tada Station (disambiguation) *Tada, a Nupe town on the ...

and was out on bail. The case continued until his death.

Death

Dighe was admitted in August 2001 after a car accident. He suffered from minor injuries on his leg. During his treatment, hospital management announced that Dighe died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. His followers believed that he died because of medical negligence and as a result, his followers burned the Sunitadevi Singhania Hospital in Thane where he died. Few followers believed that he was killed due to his popularity. There are many

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

related to Anand Dighe's death.

Popular culture

Dharmaveer biopic was based on Anand Dighe's life. In this biopic Anand Dighe's role is performed by actor

Prasad Oak Prasad Prabhakar Oak (Marathi pronunciation: ɾəsaːd̪ oːk born 17 February 1975) is an actor, director, writer, singer, anchor, poet and film producer. In 2007 he participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (Celebrity Round) and won, became Ajinkyata ...

References

People from Thane Shiv Sena politicians 1951 births 2001 deaths Marathi politicians Maharashtra politicians Politics of Thane district {{Maharashtra-SS-politician-stub