- Indian-origin democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected as the new Mayor of New York City
- Mamdani invoked former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's Tryst with Destiny speech in his victory
- Mamdani is the son of Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani and acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair
Indian-origin democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who has been elected as the new Mayor of New York City, invoked former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in his victory speech.
Addressing a crowd of supporters, Mamdani drew inspiration from Nehru's historic "Tryst with Destiny" speech, delivered on the eve of India's independence in 1947.
"Standing before you, I think of the words of Jawaharlal 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. Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new," Mamdani said, echoing Nehru's words.
The newly elected mayor said the victory symbolised a new era for New York, promising to lead with boldness. "This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders a bold vision of what we will achieve, rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt," he said.
Mamdani, who is of Ugandan-Indian heritage, also pledged that his administration would prioritise addressing the city's cost-of-living crisis. "Central to that vision will be the most ambitious agenda to tackle the cost-of-living crisis that this city has seen," he added.
Born on October 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani is the son of Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani and acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair.
His early years took him from Uganda to South Africa and then to New York City, where he attended the Bank Street School for Children and Bronx High School of Science. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 2014 with a degree in Africana Studies, where he co-founded a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.
