Anand Dighe

Anand Chintamani Dighe (27 January 1951 – 26 August 2001), popularly known as Dharmaveer was an Indian right-wing politician and social worker. He was a prominent public figure in Thane district and the unit chief of the Shiv Sena political party. He mentored many young politicians from the Thane region including Naresh Mhaske, Rajan Vichare, Ravindra Phatak and Eknath Shinde.

Career Dighe was born to a Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu family and joined politics at a young age. He became president of Shiv Sena's Thane unit in 1984. Dighe was a grassroots leader with a large support base and was popularly known as Dharmaveer. He was considered a powerful muscleman in Thane. He would hold a daily Durbar at his Tembhi Naka residence to hear out/resolve issues faced by Thane citizens along with Shiv Sena party workers.

Dighe was accused of the murder of Shiv Sena party member Sridhar Khopkar, who had allegedly voted for INC in 1989. Dighe was arrested under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 and was released on bail. The investigation continued until his death. Some followers believed that he was killed due to his popularity and there are many conspiracy theories related to Anand Dighe's death.

Eknath Shinde, Dighe's former mentee and future Chief Minister of Maharashtra, has asserted that he knows information about his death that would cause a "political earthquake" if he were to reveal it. Former Lok Sabha MP Nilesh Narayan Rane made a similar hint. A sequel, Dharmaveer 2, was released in 2024.