This reminder is crucial because Eknath Shinde has claimed Anand Dighe’s political legacy and tells everyone that he is following the path set by his mentor.
“Anand Dighe remained loyal to the Shiv Sena till the end. If someone is expressing his thoughts, it doesn’t mean that he is truly following his values and principles. What Dighe saheb did not do in his entire life, they did in the last three years. They resorted to ‘gaddari’ (betrayal) and did not even do development of this constituency,” Kedar Dighe told ThePrint.
In Thane’s Kopri-Pachpakhadi, Shinde, who has been winning from here since the constituency was formed in 2009, is now seeking his fourth term from this seat and fifth term overall.
In 2019, he won with a 65 percent margin of votes, an increase from 54 percent in 2014.
While Shinde is confident about getting re-elected based on his previous work and the multiple developmental initiatives during his tenure, Kedar Dighe says the constituency is still underdeveloped.
He says though Thane is classified as a ‘Smart City’, Shinde hasn’t been able to develop his own constituency or improve the condition of slums and chawls.
Both Shinde and Kedar Dighe claim to follow Anand Dighe’s path—one calls himself Anand Dighe’s protégé and the other Anand Dighe’s actual heir.
Many believe it’s a one-sided fight. “Kedar Dighe doesn’t stand a chance. His deposit will be confiscated,” said Ram Repale, an old Shiv Sena functionary looking after Shinde’s campaign. “Anand Dighe was never close to Kedar. He has been brought to Thane from outside. He stays in Mulund. There is no chance that he will come any close and there won’t be a fight at all.”
Political analyst and Thane resident Prakash Bal told ThePrint that Shinde has appropriated Anand Dighe’s legacy after his death and at that time, Kedar Dighe was not in the picture.
“He was not even promoted by Anand Dighe; so people do not really have any doubts about it. That should settle it and, according to me, it will be a one-sided election in favour of Eknath Shinde,” he said.
Battle for Anand Dighe’s legacy
Anand Dighe, who died in 2001 at the age of 50, was to the people of Thane almost what Bal Thackeray was to the people of Mumbai. He was largely credited with expanding the Shiv Sena’s roots in Thane and its neighbouring regions such as Kalyan, Dombivli, Ambernath, and Bhiwandi.
A month before Eknath Shinde engineered the split in Shiv Sena, a Marathi movie, Dharmaveer, based on the life of Anand Dighe was released in May 2022. The movie was heavily promoted by Shinde who called Anand Dighe his mentor.
A month later, when Shinde led a rebellion of MLAs against Uddhav Thackeray, the Thane strongman said he did this to safeguard Dighe’s ideology and that of Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
The name Anand Dighe, once mostly associated with Thane district, now resonates across Maharashtra. Today, his name appears prominently alongside that of Bal Thackeray in every Shiv Sena poster, banner and rally.
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Reel, not real
Ahead of the 20 November assembly election, a sequel to the 2022 movie ‘Dharmaveer’ was released, aiming to portray Shinde as a Hindutva icon who emerged as a loyal follower of the path shown by Dighe.
“Whatever is shown in both the movies regarding Dharmaveer is not true and just an exercise to improve Shinde’s image,” said Kedar Dighe.
Shiv Sena old-timers—who remained with Uddhav Thackeray and are now campaigning for Kedar Dighe—keep hammering on the point that Kedar is the real heir to Anand Dighe.
“When I first met Kedar, I could only see Anand Dighe in him. He looks so similar to him,” said Shantaram Shinde, a 67-year-old who has been associated with the Shiv Sena for the past 45 years.
Shantaram was even asked to switch over after the split in the Shiv Sena, but he decided to stay with Uddhav Thackeray and his party.
“And why not? After all, he is the true heir to Dighe. There is still a recall value for Anand Dighe,” said Shantaram. “Though youngsters don’t really know about Dighe’s works, but when Shinde once again brought him back into the discussions, people were talking about Dighe. And the fact that Kedar is a direct relative of Anand Dighe, this is his strong point.”
Sheela Mestry, whose responsibility is to give slogans and remind people about the Shiv Sena UBT’s symbol, tells women that Kedar Dighe is the real heir of Anand Dighe.
The 35-year-old Mestry knocks on the doors of houses in the slums of the Hajuri village area, asking every occupant if they know Anand Dighe. If the answer is yes, she then goes in to introduce Kedar as his legatee.
“I ask them that if they follow Anand Dighe and his work, then it is Kedar dada only who can take it forward. We are getting a good response and many people, especially from the older generation, have seen Anand Dighe and follow him,” said Mestry.
Persona like Bal Thackeray
In Thane, Anand Dighe built a persona similar to the one Bal Thackeray had carved for himself in Mumbai. Just like Bal Thackeray, Dighe did not contest elections either. He became the Shiv Sena’s Thane district chief in the 1980s and spread the Hindutva ideology in the entire district.
Party old-timers in Thane say Anand Dighe was instrumental in making Thane a Sena stronghold.
The slogans, ‘Thanyachi Shiv Sena’ (Thane is of Shiv Sena) and ‘Shiv Sene che Thane’ (Shiv Sena belongs to Thane), became a hit during his period.
“We have worked with Dighe saheb and it is his teachings that we should follow at the grassroots level. That is how all of us, workers, have worked for many, many years. Kedar Dighe is educated, fresh and (Anand) Dighe’s traits are in his blood,” said Shailesh Sawant, ex-corporator who is with the Shiv Sena (UBT).
“Right now, people are frustrated because too many promises were given but nothing has been fulfilled yet. Cluster redevelopment was promised but that did not happen. And slums are still in a precarious condition. For many years, these people’s condition remained the same despite Shinde being an MLA from here for many decades.”
But Repale disagrees. He says Anand Dighe never looked at blood relations in isolation.
“For Dighe saheb, the entire Shiv Sena was the family. And Anand Ashram was his house. In any of our rallies or speeches, or even campaigns, we don’t even mention Kedar Dighe anywhere,” said Repale.
However, Sawant questions why the chief minister needs to use the names of Bal Thackeray and Anand Dighe if he has done so much work. The Shiv Sena (UBT) worker believes Shinde is just trying to improve his image by using Dighe’s name.
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Shinde vs Dighe
Kedar Dighe has been going door to door to put forth his vision for the constituency, but it is a big challenge.
Shinde has been an MLA of this constituency since 2009. The CM claims Anand Dighe groomed him to the extent that he keeps a beard to mirror his mentor’s personality.
In his first speech in the Maharashtra Assembly after winning the floor test, Shinde broke down while referring to Anand Dighe and the latter’s role in his personal and political life.
“When I lost my two children in front of my eyes, Anand Dighe saheb gave me strength,” said a tearful Shinde, referring to a 2001 boating accident in which he lost his 11-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter.
“Who should I live for? I decided I will only live for my (son) Shrikant, my wife and my parents… Dighe saheb came home five times and I told him, ‘Now I can’t stand again and do justice to your party’. He called me at Tembhi Naka one day, put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Eknath, don’t say no. You will have to digest your grief’,” the chief minister had said.
After the split in Shiv Sena, the first big test was to get corporators from the Thane municipal corporation to join him, which Shinde did successfully. Out of 67 ex-corporators, 65 went with the Sena rebel.
Secondly, during the Lok Sabha elections, Shinde’s Sena won crucial seats like Thane and Kalyan, while its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), won Palghar. Except for Bhiwandi, won by the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), Thane was swept by the Mahayuti led by Shinde.
Kedar Dighe, on the other hand, used to work in the corporate sector before he quit his job in 2010 and became a full-time politician. Shinde, who was looking after Thane district’s affairs at the time, appointed Kedar to look after Jawhar, Mokhada, Palghar, and Shahpur.
But after the split in 2022, Kedar Dighe was brought back to Thane and made district head when he extended his support to Uddhav Thackeray.
“I am trying to remain cool (and collected) because my aim is not only to win, but to go to every person and talk to them and understand their problems. What people wanted, they never got it. So within the next five years, if at all I win, 100 percent there will be a change,” Kedar Dighe said.
Chief Minister Shinde is banking on various infrastructure projects and welfare schemes like the Ladki Bahin scheme to help him sail through.
A senior leader close to Eknath Shinde is confident the Ladki Bahin scheme is a hit. “This will be a game-changer for Mahayuti. There is no doubt about Shinde’s re-election, but the margin will also be the highest,” said the leader.
For analyst Prakash Bal, Shinde’s years of dominance in the district will give him an advantage.
“After the death of Anand Dighe, Eknath Shinde took over and has his dominance in the region. So, it will be a one-sided election. Now Kedar Dighe might take some votes of old Shiv Sainiks but won’t dent it much,” he said.
Although Shantaram Shinde partly agrees that Shinde might win the contest, he says, “It will be a tough election. We are putting our 100 percent into this. And amongst young voters, the appeal of Kedar Dighe and goodwill of Uddhav Thackeray will help us put up a good fight.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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