The TOI correspondent from Washington: He quoted from Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech in his victory remarks; he invited his saree-clad mom, the filmmaker Mira Nair, and his academic dad, Mumbai-born Mahmood Mamdani, on stage for celebrations; and his campaign blasted out the Bollywood hit Dhoom Machale, to herald his win.Zohran Mamdani’s election in the New York City mayoral polls was infused with many “desi” elements, milking everything from mango lassi to dialogues from Deewar. But make no mistake – if he does not deliver on his promises, he could well be singing Doom Machale as Republicans hold his feet to the fire, after tying one hand behind his back. The signs are already ominous. President Trump has said he will not be funding the city for any of Mamdani’s welfare projects. The world’s richest city, whose municipal budget of $112 billion is more than that of Maharashtra, depends on state and federal support for 25 percent of its revenues. Republicans have also warned that millionaires, of whom there are 350,000 in the city, will bolt if he raises taxes. Then there is the Islamophobia. Hours before and after Mamdani’s win, MAGA Republicans repeatedly invoked 9/11 in an effort to tie him to terrorism, amid calls from more extremist quarters to denaturalise him and deport him. One MAGA lawmaker, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, posted a graphic clip of a plane crashing into WTC with the caption “Wake up New York!” following up a photo of slums in Kampala, Uganda, where Mamdani was born. “America is about to become a very violent country. Mamdani will encourage Muslims to commit political assassinations to acquire power and silence critics,” Laura Loomer, a right-wing gadabout, said in one of several wild posts on Wednesday, lamenting that “Communist and Jihadist candidates are sweeping the nation with election victories tonight.”Also read: Democrats Trump Donald in first electoral setback for US presidentIndeed, women and minorities swept to victory in several races beyond NYC, giving voice to immigrants who feel under siege in MAGA-favored America. In Cincinnati, Ohio, a state won by Trump in 2024 and 2016, Aftab Purewal, son of a Punjabi dad and Tibetan mom who grew up in a Tibetan settlement called Bylekuppe outside Mysuru, won the mayoral race defeating Republican Cory Bowman, vice president JD Vance’s half-brother. In Virginia, Hyderabad-born Ghazala Hashmi became the first Muslim lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth. Many others won county and local body elections. But it was the Big Apple falling far from its capitalist origin, that too to a socialist, that jolted America’s political establishment. The apocryphal story goes that Manhattan, home to Wall Street, Fifth Avenue, and other symbols of American wealth and capitalism, was bought by a Dutch trader from a Native American tribe for 24 colored beads and other gee-gaws. On Tuesday, poorer boroughs like the Bronx, Brookyln, and Queens had their say, putting Mamdani over the top. The irony of the ground zero of capitalism that was attacked by Islamist terrorists on 9/11, electing a young Muslim socialist mayor – the youngest in its history – was also striking. But this is NYC, and like most New Yorkers, Mamdani was not taking a step back. “I am young despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a Democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this,” he said in his victory speech, asserting that Republicans will have to learn to live with his win, and if Trump wants to “get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up!” he added.
