India, March 24 -- Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, at a function held on Sunday, announced the appointment of former corporator Sandeep Deshpande as the Mumbai chief of the party. After a terrible performance in the assembly polls held last year, Thackeray decided to reorganise the MNS for the BMC polls, which are expected to be held this year. This is the first time that Raj Thackeray has decided to appoint a chief for the Mumbai unit.

Deshpande, who lives in Dadar, was the MNS candidate against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Aaditya Thackeray from the Worli assembly constituency. He was disillusioned after the debacle of the party in the assembly polls, and sources claimed that he would have left the MNS had he not bee...