The Raj Thackeray-led-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has appointed its firebrand corporator from Dadar, Sandeep Deshpande, to head the party in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). He will replace senior corporator, Dilip Lande, as the party group leader in the civic body. According to MNS sources, the party submitted a letter to mayor Sunil Prabhu on Monday, anointing Mr Deshpande as the group leader. The decision has been taken keeping in mind the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, which are scheduled to be held next year. “With the upcoming LS polls, the party needed an aggressive leader who can mobilise and galvanise the party corporators in the city. There was also a need to take the ruling Shiv Sena, which is misruling the BMC, head on,” said a party official. Mr Deshpande has been elected from Dadar’s Shivaji Park area, where his party chief Raj Thackeray resides. The party also needs to retain its hold over the Marathi-dominated area, which Shiv Sena earlier ruled for years. The MNS scored an impressive victory in Dadar in the last Assembly polls and then grabbed five seats in the civic elections. In an attempt to challenge MNS in Dadar and surrounding areas, Shiv Sena now plans to field civic standing committee chairman, Rahul Shewale, from Mumbai South-Central Lok Sabha constituency. Mr Deshpande, who won from ward no. 185, expressed happiness over his anointment as party group leader. “The party decision was totally unexpected for me,” he said. “However, I will try my best to meet the party leader’s expectations,” he told The Asian Age. After being elected as MNS corporator last year, Mr Deshpande has been in news several times for his agitations over the poor condition of the city’s roads. He was also made member of the all-important civic standing committee, and was on the forefront in attacking the Shiv Sena on several issues. However, he was inexplicably removed from the standing committee and was given a low-key BEST committee. His appointment as the group leader has finally been seen as party’s recognition of his firebrand style of work.
