Copyright news18
New York, Nov 5 (PTI) Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old Indian-origin democratic socialist, pulled off a stunning victory in the fiercely contested New York city mayoral elections, riding on an electrifying campaign to become the first South Asian, Muslim and youngest in a century to helm the administration of the world’s financial capital. Mamdani, the son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Indian-origin scholar Mahmood Mamdani, defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a scandal-hit Democrat who ran as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, in the keenly-watched contest that grabbed global attention. His historic victory to run the city of more than 8.4 million people is seen as a come back of progressive politics, with Mamdani vowing to prioritise working-class issues as he proposed initiatives like free childcare, rent-freeze, free bus services, and government-run grocery stores to make New York affordable to live. In a fiery speech, Mamdani described his victory as the dawn of a “new age” for New York and said “together, we will usher in a generation of change”. “New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can afford,” the Uganda-born state lawmaker told his supporters at Brooklyn Paramount Theater. He will be inaugurated as the 111th mayor of New York in January. Currently a member of the Queens state assembly, Mamdani emerged victorious, securing over 50 per cent of the votes. Cuomo, 67, who was endorsed by Trump trailed behind with just over 40 per cent votes while Sliwa garnered a mere seven per cent of the votes. Cuomo ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani in June. In his address, Mamdani invoked Jawaharlal Nehru as he quoted the first prime minister of India from his famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech of 1947 to reflect his own agenda of revitalisation, equality and tackling corruption. “We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible, and we won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do,” he said. “Standing before you, I think of the words of Jawaharlal Nehru — a moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance. Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new,” he said amid loud cheers. Besides winning the New York mayoral elections, the Democrats won gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, in outcomes largely seen as declining public support for Trump’s second term in presidency. In his victory speech, Mamdani, a state assemblyman, also trained his guns on US President Donald Trump who called him a “communist”. “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him, and if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power,” Mamdani said. “This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one,” he said. In his remarks, the New York Mayor-elect also threw a challenge at Trump and condemned “oligarchy and authoritarianism”. “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: ‘Turn the volume up,'” he said. Mamdani’s victory assumed greater political significance as President Trump is a native New Yorker who has consistently warned people not to vote for the democratic socialist. In criticising Trump’s crackdown on immigrants, Mamdani said New York will continue to be powered by immigrants and after his historic victory, will be “led by an immigrant”. “New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he declared. Many analysts saw Mamdani’s victory as a reflection of the ongoing churn in US domestic politics while some others felt that it could set up a bitter rivalry between the young leader and Trump. “Whether he succeeds as mayor of New York or not, Mamdani shines a light on the current churn in US domestic politics and the unfolding contest for the political soul of America,” wrote strategic affairs expert C Raja Mohan in The Indian Express. Mamdani was born in Uganda’s Kampala and moved to New York City with his family when he was seven years old. The democratic socialist promised that New York will be the light in “this moment of political darkness” and where “we believe in standing up for those we love, whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall.” “Your struggle is ours, too,” he said to loud cheers. Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration has been plagued by scandals, had dropped out of the mayoral race in September. Mamdani had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months. The New York Board of Elections said that two million votes were cast, for the first time in the elections since 1969. PTI YAS MPB MPB MPB
