By Prof Pradeep Mathur
Even Lenin, the father of Bolshevik revolution would not have hoped for it. In what looks seemingly impossible the light of revolution has penetrated the thick dark citadel of international capitalism. Indian origin Zorhan Mamdani the son of immigrants, a Muslim, and a self-described democratic socialist, had just been elected Mayor of America’s largest city. And as if to tease the RSS-BJP echo-system in India he invoked Nehru in his victory speech besides attaching President Donald Trump in no uncertain terms.
“The sun may have set over our city this evening,” he began, quoting the socialist icon Eugene Debs, “but I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.”
It was a line that set the tone for a victory speech unlike any in recent New York history—part political manifesto, part love letter to the city’s working class. Mamdani, the 34-year-old Queens legislator who toppled political veteran Andrew Cuomo in one of the most fiercely contested mayoral races in decades, used the moment to redefine what power in New York could look like.
“For as long as we can remember,” he said, “the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands. Fingers bruised from lifting boxes, palms calloused from delivery bike handlebars—these are not hands that have been allowed to hold power. And yet, tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it.”
The crowd roared. The city, long seen as drifting toward corporate priorities and real estate interests, had delivered what Mamdani called “a mandate for change—a mandate for a city we can afford and a government that delivers exactly that.”
A Coalition of the Forgotten
In a speech filled with emotion and striking imagery, Mamdani spoke not just to his supporters but to those who felt left out of the city’s political story.
“This campaign is about people like Wesley, who commutes hours each way from Pennsylvania because rent is too expensive here,” he said. “It’s about the woman I met on the BX years ago who told me, ‘I used to love New York, but now it’s just where I live.’”
He dedicated his victory to the “Yemeni bodega owners, Mexican abuelas, Senegalese taxi drivers, Uzbek nurses, Trinidadian line cooks, and Ethiopian aunties” who, he said, “made this movement their own.”
To thunderous applause, he reminded them, “This city is your city, and this democracy is yours, too.” ________________________________________
The Politics of Hope
For Mamdani, hope wasn’t a campaign slogan—it was the backbone of a movement. “We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible,” he said. “We won because we insisted that politics is no longer something that is done to us—it is something that we do.”
Invoking Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous words at India’s independence—“a moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new”—Mamdani declared that New York had reached such a turning point.
“Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new,” he proclaimed. “This will be an age where New Yorkers expect bold vision, not timid excuses.”
A Blueprint for Change
In a sweeping outline of his agenda, Mamdani promised what he called “the most ambitious program to tackle the cost-of-living crisis since the days of Fiorello LaGuardia.”
Among his immediate priorities:
• Freezing rents for more than a million rent-stabilized tenants.
• Making buses fast and free across the city.
• Delivering universal child care for working families.
• Hiring thousands of new teachers to strengthen public education.
• Revitalizing public housing, starting with long-neglected NYCHA developments.
“Safety and justice will go hand in hand,” he vowed. “We will work with police officers to reduce crime while creating a Department of Community Safety that tackles the mental health and homelessness crises head-on.”
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Unity in a Divided Time
At a moment when national politics remains sharply polarized, Mamdani positioned his win as a rebuke to division and hate. “In this moment of political darkness,” he said, “New York will be the light.”
He pledged solidarity with “immigrants, the trans community, Black women fired from federal jobs, single mothers struggling with grocery bills,” and vowed that City Hall would “stand steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and not waver in the fight against anti-Semitism—while ensuring that over a million Muslims know they belong, not just in the five boroughs but in the halls of power.”
His message was clear: “No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election.”
A Challenge to the Powerful
Mamdani also issued a direct challenge to the billionaire class and to President Donald Trump, whose presence still looms large over New York politics.
“Tens of millions of dollars have been spent to convince working people that those earning $20 an hour are their enemies,” he said. “We refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game anymore.”
Turning toward the cameras, Mamdani addressed Trump personally: “Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, turn the volume up. We will hold bad landlords to account because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants. To get to any of us, you’ll have to get through all of us.”
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An Immigrant’s Promise
Mamdani’s ascent to City Hall carries deep symbolic weight. Born to Ugandan-Indian parents, he often describes his journey as a testament to New York’s immigrant spirit. “This city was built by immigrants, powered by immigrants—and as of tonight, it is led by one,” he said, to a standing ovation.
He acknowledged the improbable nature of his win with humility and pride. “I am young. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of it,” he smiled. “If tonight teaches us anything, it’s that convention has held us back.”
From Campaign Poetry to Governance Prose
Quoting another great New Yorker, Mamdani noted, “You campaign in poetry, you govern in prose.” But, he added, “Let the prose we write still rhyme.”
His final words were both a promise and a warning to the city’s establishment: “This power—it’s yours. This city belongs to you.”
For the crowd gathered that night—workers, activists, immigrants, and idealists—it was more than rhetoric. It was the sound of a new political generation stepping into history.
As fireworks lit the skyline and chants of “Yes, we can!” echoed through the streets, one thing was clear: Zorhan Mamdani’s victory was not just an electoral triumph—it was a declaration that New York, once again, belonged to its people.
( Veteran journalist and media Guru , Prof Pradeep Mathur is Editor-in-chief of Mediamap news network and Chairman of MBKM Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation for voluntary social work)
