Indian-origin Mamdani scripts history, first South Asian to be New York mayor

“A moment comes but rarely in history,” said New York’s winning mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, as he addressed a few thousand core campaign volunteers at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in New York last night, “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,” he added, now rephrasing Jawaharlal Nehru, “we have stepped out from the old into the new.” Zohran’s words echoed through the room, resonating deeply and touching upon the various aspects of one’s being - migration, belonging and freedom.

His parents, the Punjabi filmmaker of Indian origin, Mira Nair, and the noted anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani as well as his wife, the artist Rama Duwaji of Syrian descent, stood proudly in the crowd, a first family of immigrants who must have taken seriously the words inscribed beneath the Statue of Liberty. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

"Together,” Zohran said, the first Muslim mayor-designate of Indian origin, to thunderous cheer, “we will usher in a generation of change".

The 34-year-old Democratic Socialist was also pointing towards Donald Trump, whose contemptuous dismissal of him through the campaign and endorsement of Mamdani’s opponent, the scandal-hit former Democrat Andrew Cuomo, as well as his other opponents, gave the campaign a definite edge.

“They and their ilk should turn the volume up to the sound 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.”

As I write this, a full moon looms over Manhattan - the Beaver Moon, the largest and brightest supermoon of the year where its rays shine bright through the darkness of the night. And that’s how today feels with Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory. His win signifies hope, a shift, a breakthrough in these tumultuous times, a signifier to welcome fresh air and ideas.

Mamdani secured over 50 per cent of the vote, defeating Cuomo with 40 per cent and Republican nominee Curtis Silwa, who garnered a mere 7 per cent of the vote.

According to the New York Board of Elections, two million votes were cast for the first time in this election since 1969. He will be inaugurated as the 111th mayor of New York in January.

Mamdani’s historic victory to run the city of more than 8.4 million people is seen as a comeback 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.

The road ahead, however, will be far from easy as Republicans have long questioned Mamdani’s ability to actuate on change, whether it’s tax hike or free buses. But the Mayor-elect is aware this idealism doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and it requires tireless advocacy and action to shift a perspective that has lost its way to convenience. Certainly, real listening will come into play.

What we do now know is that the world is trembling itself into a new existence, and as Zohran said, “In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light.”