Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday morning hailed Zohran Mamdani's "spectacular victory" in the New York mayoral election. He also congratulated Mamdani's family, including renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and his uncles, with whom the Congress MP said he attended the St Stephen's College in Delhi.
The 34-year-old Mamdani brought what The New York Times called an 'improbable run' to a fairy tale conclusion this morning, handily defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo by over nine percentage points. Mamdani polled over 900,000 votes to Cuomo's 744,000.
"Wonderfully apt…" Tharoor said on X with a screenshot of the NYT's vote-count.
Mamdani's win confirms his place in the history books; he becomes the city's first Muslim mayor, its first of South Asian heritage, and its first born in Africa, underlining the religious and racial diversity the world must embrace to battle challenges affecting global populations.
He will also become New York's youngest mayor in more than a century.
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In his first X post after his victory, Mamdani posted a video showing a New York subway train opening at City Hall, with the text "Zohran For New York City" emerging on the wall.
In the background, the announcement, "The next and last stop is City Hall," can be heard.
City Hall is the place where the mayor's office is located.
READ | Zohran Mamdani Quotes Jawaharlal Nehru After Winning NY Polls
Mamdani harnessed enthusiasm and social media savvy to become a rising star in the Democrats, but his candidacy sparked an ideological divide. President Donald Trump, who has long inserted himself in the politics of his hometown, dismissed Mamdani by falsely calling him a communist.
But Mamdani's grassroots campaign focused on making the city more affordable, proposing a rent freeze on stabilised units, construction of 2 lakh public housing units, universal childcare, tuition-free education, fare-free buses, and city-run grocery stores, making him a favourite of the masses.
READ | "And So It Begins...": Trump Takes Note Of Mamdani's All-Out Attack
He also backed raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, funded through higher taxes on millionaires and corporations. Mamdani also called for shifting police resources toward community services and expanding public transit and bike infrastructure.
Spotlight | Mamdani And Record-High 'Samosa Caucus': Indian-Americans In US Politics
The contest in New York drove the biggest turnout in a mayoral race in more than 50 years, with over two million New Yorkers casting ballots, according to the city's Board of Elections.
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