Democrat Zohran Mamdani addressed his supporters after winning the New York City mayoral election on Tuesday (local time). Mamdani, a democratic socialist lawmaker of Indian origin, quoted India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in his victory speech.
“As I stand before you, I am reminded of the words of Jawahar Lal Nehru,” Mamdani, 34, told the crowd.
“There comes a moment in history, but rarely, when we step from the old into the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds a voice. Tonight, New York did just that. This new era requires clarity, courage and vision – not excuses. It will be defined by bold leadership and the most ambitious plan yet to confront our city’s cost crisis,” he said.
The quote comes from Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1947 “Try with Destiny” speech delivered to the Constituent Assembly on the eve of India’s independence on 15 August 1947.
“There comes a moment that comes, but rarely in history, when we step out of the old into the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds expression,” Nehru said in a profound declaration on India’s independence at midnight on August 14, 1947.
The speech symbolized the end of colonial rule and the birth of a new era for newly free India, allowing the long silenced spirit of the nation to speak for itself.
Mamdani’s historic victory
In the closely watched election for mayor of New York. Mamdani scored a landslide victory, beating former state governor Andrew Cuomo with the highest turnout in decades.
Born in 1991 in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani is the son of Indian-born filmmaker Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani.
Mamdani spent his early years in Uganda and South Africa before his family moved to New York in 1999 when Mahmood joined the faculty at Columbia University.
This new era requires clarity, courage and vision – not excuses.
Mamdani previously served three terms representing the Queens area in the New York State Assembly. He was the first South Asian and Ugandan to serve in the assembly and the third Muslim to do so.
