Invoking the great words of India’s first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and with the banger music of ‘Dhoom Machale’ playing in the background, the New York City marked a huge watershed moment as Zohran Mamdani triumphed in the mayoral race beating all odds despite the mightiest efforts of President Donald Trump and big corporates being in place to stop him. This victory not just marks a huge comeback for the Democrats against a MAGA wave but also holds lessons for liberal and democratic forces across the world.

Who is Zohran Mamdani?

Well, if you are active on social media, there is no chance that you haven’t heard his name in the last six months or so. Actually, the smart and efficient use of social media played a huge part in bolstering Mamdani’s support, especially among the youth.

Born to parents of Indian-origin – acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair (do watch her ‘Monsoon Wedding’) and Ugandan-American academic Mahmood Mamdani – Zohran was born in Uganda where he stayed for around 7 years, before his parents moved to the US. Before entering politics, Zohran worked as a housing counselor helping low-income families, an experience that would define his future politics strongly. He was also a rapper for a brief period under the stage name ‘Cardamom’.

He formally entered politics in 2020 by winning the election of New York State Assembly from Astoria, Queens, a seat from where he would get re-elected again in 2022 and 2024. Finally, he decided to run for the mayor of New York City last year and started his campaign with a unique agenda built on the lines of ‘democratic socialism’. But, the game was not going to be that easy in race with well-established players.

Zohran Mamdani ran a heavily grounded and interactive campaign (Photo: AP News)

Mamdani’s ‘Affordability’ Plank Vs the Establishment

Zohran Mamdani’s core campaign centered around making New York City more affordable. It is pertinent to note that NYC does have a very high and expensive standard of living leading to many people migrating out of it. Amid this, Mamdani promised rent freeze and affordable housing, free bus services, universal childcare, groceries from public shops, and higher tax on wealthy (precisely those earning $1 million monthly). On expected lines, the promises resonated with the common people but created panic among the big corporates.

For starters, Mamdani appeared ‘way too left’ for the mainstream, including his own party (Democrats). On the other hand, big party names like Bill Clinton had put their weight behind experienced Andrew Cuomo (67). Considered a supporter of big capitalist powers, Cuomo had earlier served as the Governor of New York, before had to resign in wake of multiple sexual scandal allegations. All major Democrat candidates in the mayoral race brushed off Mamdani’s promises as ‘extravagant’. Just one year ago, Mamdani’s chances of winning the Democrat primary was just at 1%.

But, from there started Zohran’s unique and attractive campaigning. Reaching out to people of different sections: taxi drivers, labourers, right on streets to holding targeted campaigns for people of specific culture and ethnicity: in Hindi, Bengali, Arabic. Mamdani’s charismatic personality, being well-versed in multiple languages and smart use of social media helped him effectively and attractively design his campaign. Slowly, his campaign videos became talk of the town and his promises started reaching out to people.

Zohran Mamdani was up against Republican Curtis Silwa and former Governor Andrew Cuomo (Photo: BBC)

Mamdani’s Ideology on Sleeve Against ‘Islamophobic’ Hate

One of the biggest highlights of Zohran Mamdani’s campaign was wearing his identity and ideology on his sleeve. He presented himself as a ‘democratic socialist’ even as the term ‘socialism’ is not that welcoming in the United States keeping in mind the country’s love-hate relationship with communism. Mamdani openly spoke in support of Palestine, even when majority US leaders including the Democrats try to avoid the issue. He didn’t even shy away from bashing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and India’s Narendra Modi, calling them “war criminals” (well I won’t disagree).

During one of his debates, when the candidates were asked where they will go if they win the mayoral race, while everyone said Israel, the so-called ‘holy land’, Mamdani calmly said, “I’d stay here and work for the New Yorkers”. As many pointed out, this was just the moment he won it. He even said his priority will be to take care of Jewish New Yorkers, and that Israel should NOT be based on a religion but should’ve equal rights for all. Mamdani built his campaign on the themes of harmony, pluralism and diversity, where he strongly affirmed there will be no place for hatred whether it’s in form of Islamophobia or Antisemitism.

Zohran Mamdani’s campaign was one of the best use of social media in the space (Photo: Social Media)

Despite this, Mamdani couldn’t stop the barrage of hatred towards him. Leading the charge was President Donald Trump himself. From calling Mamdani a “communist lunatic” to threatening to stop NYC funds and sending National Guard there, to calling for his ‘deportation’, Trump and his MAGA team were all guns blazing. Mamdani was continuously attacked for his religion, saying he will bring “sharia law” in the city. Someone mocked him saying he would be “happy” if a 9/11 happens again, a statement his rival Cuomo nodded to. Memes were shared by the right wing showing a huge black burqa over the Statue of Liberty.

But, it was not just rhetoric that was brewing a challenge for Mamdani, but also money. The big corporates, out of panic, were hell bent on stopping a Mamdani win. According to a Forbes estimate, over $22 million were donated to pro-Cuomo and anti-Mamdani groups ahead of this race. NYC has been a Democrat stronghold, so after Cuomo lost the Democrat primary, the former Governor decided to run as an independent to still keep competition alive in the main race. Curtis Silwa was the Republican candidate (which I’m still surprised why, GOP could’ve simply let it be a two-front game). Former NYC mayor, Eric Adams – who resigned after corruption allegations – wanted to run again as independent, but was persuaded, reportedly by corporates and Trump’s team, to back off to increase Cuomo’s chances.

Significance of Mamdani Win

Eventually, when the voters turned up on November 5th, and results came out later in the day, Zohran Mamdani (50%) triumphed over Cuomo (41%). A notable aspect was NYC recorded its highest voter turnout since 1969, and Mamdani secured over 1 million votes, one of the highest ever. New York is a city with extremely diverse population with substantial number of Indian and Jew community living there. The fact the electorate so overwhelmingly went with Mamdani despite his pro-Palestine and anti-Modi stance, speaks volumes.

This victory is special because Mamdani had not got enough support of his own party and his campaign stood on a trajectory most US leaders fear to enter. Also, NYC electing its first Muslims mayor is a huge watershed moment for the city which witnessed one of the worst phases of Islamophobia after the 9/11 terror attack. Zohran Mamdani just showed that you can win an election despite being unapologetic about your identity and ideology, if you are able to connect with people and their real issues.

Zohran Mamdani with his parents and wife Rama Duwaji (Photo: Bloomberg)

Mamdani’s victory speech and reception was just as dramatic as his campaign. He tried to reach out to every section of the city. He promised to build a City Hall that “stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers” against antisemitism and strongly affirmed that it will no longer be a city “where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election”.

“For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands,” he said, adding “Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it.” For me, the favourite moment came when he remembered the words of 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.”

He also didn’t forget to challenge Trump head-on, asking him to “turn the volume up” and then warning, “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.” If that was not dramatic enough, the speech ended with popular Bollywood song ‘Dhoom Machale’ playing in the background.

The Road Ahead for Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani will take over as mayor on January 1, 2026, and he will have his task cut out. The big promises he has made, the public will be having huge expectations from him. He is already being compared with Aam Aadmi party supremo Arvind Kejriwal for his welfare politics. Executing the welfare policies in New York with fiscal prudence at a time when Trump has threatened to cut funds, will be a big task for Mamdani and his team. So, Mamdani indeed has a huge challenge ahead of him. The task though achievable, is not easy.

Also, though Mamdani can NEVER run for President (since he wasn’t born in US) his politics does hold a lesson for the Democrats, that they need to take their politics out of their ‘safe’ shells and actually connect with the people’s needs. The Democrats also recorded a couple of more wins in other mayoral and governor races, which will give them confidence ahead of the mid-term elections next year. Trump will face a big test at a time the US economy is reeling under the impact of tariffs and shutdown (longest in history). So, this might actually mark the start of interesting phase in US’ national politics too.

Now, many might be thinking whether all of this has anything to do with India. Well, yes and no. No, it’s not a point of celebration that an Indian-origin leader has won. I’ve always said we need to get out of this mindset. But what we should learn is the way timely elections (even mayoral) are conducted there with proper primaries and full accountability to the people. I don’t think anyone reading it would even know their mayor or the last time mayoral polls happened at their place. And above all, it’s indeed a big thing that a leader promoting harmony and pluralism has won at a time when there is a wave of right-wing hate-mongering leaders winning across the world, including India.