Zohran Mamdani’s Prospect Of Becoming New York City Mayor Divides America

Zohran Mamdani, son of Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan and a Gujrati by origin and Mira Nair, famous Indian filmmaker, is likely to become the first South Asian mayor of New York City, home to some 200,000 Indian Americans, one of the largest such communities in the United States. If elected, Mamdani would be the city’s first Muslim mayor and its first of Indian American descent. He would also be one of its youngest.

Mamdani has won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary recently , cementing his stunning upset of former Governor Andrew Cuomo trouncing him by 12 percentage points.

In a statement, Mamdani said he was humbled by the support he received in the primary, turning his attention to the general election. “Last Tuesday, Democrats spoke in a clear voice, delivering a mandate for an affordable city, a politics of the future, and a leader unafraid to fight back against rising authoritarianism,” he said. “I am humbled by the support of more than 545,000 New Yorkers who voted for our campaign and am excited to expand this coalition even further as we defeat Eric Adams and win a city government that puts working people first.”

However, the Democratic establishment has approached Mamdani with caution. Many of its big players don’t seem ready to throw their full support behind the young progressive, whose past criticisms of law enforcement, use of the word “genocide” to describe the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza and “democratic socialist” label amount to landmines for some in the party.

Mamdani has been a member of the state Assembly since 2021, and has characterised his inexperience as a potential asset. His campaign promised free city buses, free child care, a rent freeze for people living in rent-stabilised apartments, government-run grocery stores and more, all paid for with taxes on the wealthy. Critics have slammed his agenda as politically unrealistic.

Also, Mamdani, who has been in news for his strong comments on various issues is certainly not in the good books of President Donald Trump. “As President of the United States, I’m not going to let this Communist Lunatic destroy New York,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Rest assured, I hold all the levers, and have all the cards. I’ll save New York City, and make it ‘Hot’ and ‘Great’ again, just like I did with the Good Ol’ USA!”. Trump’s post echoed threats he has made against California and other Democrat-led cities and states to withhold federal funding if those areas do not comply with his immigration orders or other aspects of his agenda. The post also marks the attack from Trump, a New York City native, against Mamdani, who this week officially secured the Democratic nomination for November’s mayoral race.
Trump also threatened to investigate Mamdani’s immigration status and arrest him if he stood in the way of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s raids in the city.

Mamdani legally moved to the U.S. as a young child with his family after growing up in Uganda. Countering Trump’s attack, Mamdani said, “His statements don’t just represent an attack on our democracy but an attempt to send a message to every New Yorker who refuses to hide in the shadows: if you speak up, they will come for you.”

Mamdani’s primary win has not only earned him flak in the U.S. but in India as well. Since his win, a video of remarks in which he called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “war criminal” and the orchestrator of a “mass slaughter of Muslims” has drawn widespread attention in India.

Mamdani said, “Modi, he said, should be viewed as a “war criminal” — “in the same manner” as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mamdani has criticised Netanyahu over the war in Gaza. He blames Modi for the deaths of more than 1,000 Muslims in riots in the Indian state of Gujarat when he was its Chief Minister. Allegations that Modi fomented the violence and did not intercede to stop it have overshadowed his career, at one point resulting in the denial of visa to visit the United States before he was prime minister.”

That unabashed stance has not only earned him criticism from his rival candidates but also from overseas. For now, the focus shifts to the November polls to see whom the New Yorkers trust!