Zohran Mamdani, a self-proclaimed socialist branded a “communist” by US President Donald Trump, has made history by being elected mayor of a city widely known as the capital of global capitalism.
Mamdani, who is of Indian-Ugandan descent, has a broad base of support among minorities and immigrants in NYC. He is the son of famous Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani.
After his stunning victory in which the 34-year-old defeated veteran Democratic leader and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani has been receiving congratulatory messages from around the world, including India. Prominent Indians like Shashi Tharoor and Prashant Bhushan Jonas congratulated the 111th mayor of the city that David Letterman famously called “a city so nice they named it twice.”
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Let’s take a look at some of them:
Shashi Tharoor shared X’s post, which mentioned Mamdani quoting India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in his victory speech: “Wonderfully apt! Hearty congratulations to my old friend
@MiraPagliNair on her son @ZohranKMamdani’s spectacular win and to his uncles, my Stephan friends Vicky and Gautam Nair, for their nephew’s triumph!”
Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan also sent out a congratulatory messageand said: “Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim immigrant won the New York City Mayoral election!
He calls himself a democratic socialist and favors free buses, free childcare and a rent freeze in NY.”
“He beat big money and Trump, who called him a communist, and teamed up to beat him,” Bhushan added.
“His victory has many lessons for politicians around the world. It shows that many people want to support those who honestly challenge the establishment and the status quo, and are not afraid of big money and trolling. Big win!”, he also said.
Bhushan also shared a clip of Mamdani’s victory speech where the latter quoted Nehru.
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Indian actor Shabana Azmi wished Mamdani on Facebook. She said post“I’m over the moon! Not just because Zohraan is the son of Mira and Mahmoud, but because of who Zohraan is and the hope he represents for social justice. I’ve been following his campaign closely…despite all the negative publicity that was made against him, with Trump even pathetically saying that ‘I look better than him!'” Zohraan is young and promises: “Politics is not something that is done to us, politics is something that we do for ourselves. A bold vision what we can achieve is no excuse for what was not done!’
Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar congratulated Mamdani in an Instagram story which was further shared by his mother Shabana Azmi.
Mira Nair shared Zoya Akhtar’s story on Instagram.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna is also optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party after the big wins. He said post“Yes on Prop 50 wins, Mamdani wins, Spanberger wins, Sherrill wins, Colorado taxes the rich to fund school meals!” adding: “This is the beginning of a democratic return and hopefully the dawn of a new populist and progressive era.”
Indian journalist Rana Ayyub was also happy with Mamdani’s victory, calling it “a resounding message to bigots and Islamophobes around the world”.
Another Congress leader, spokesman Jairam Ramesh, also highlighted Mamdani’s reference to Nehru in X’s post, pointing out that in Scotland in November 2013, “these very words of Nehru were also used by Alex Salmond in his campaign for independence”.
