The election of Zohran Mamdani as the mayor of America’s largest city, New York, against all odds, is a momentous event. The son of Indian parents – Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani – he is the youngest mayor of the city since 1892 and also its first Muslim and African-born mayor. Mamdani was unapologetic about his roots. He campaigned on a socialist platform in a city that is the centre of global capitalism. He stood up to President Trump when his own Democratic party was struggling to decide how to deal with him.

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Mamdani’s victory is significant because he didn’t play down his Muslim, or migrant identity, unlike other political aspirants in America and other Western countries had done in the past. During the campaign, Mamdani called himself a proud Muslim and declared that he was proud of his Indian heritage, at a time of growing Islamophobia and an anti-India campaign by Trump’s MAGA supporters.

He didn’t believe that his faith and heritage could lose him the election, despite warnings from analysts and other politicians and attempts by his opponents to create fear among voters. He actually proudly displayed his identity. His campaign videos included Bollywood music. Even at his victory speech, the Dhoom Macha De song was played in the background, where he also referred to Jawahar Lal Nehru’s his