New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani quoted India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru in his victory speech, calling his win a break from the old order.
NEW YORK: Zohran Mamdani made history on Tuesday night as he was declared the next mayor of New York City, becoming the first Muslim and South Asian to lead the city. In a passionate victory speech, Mamdani struck a historic note — quoting Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, in what many are calling a defining moment of political symbolism.
“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,” he said.
Then, turning the words into a reflection of his own campaign and win, he declared: “Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new.”
The remarks came as Mamdani celebrated his stunning victory over former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa in one of the most closely watched mayoral elections in the country.
“Friends, we have toppled a political dynasty. I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life, but let tonight be the final time I utter his name as we turn the page on a politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few. New York tonight you have delivered,” he added, drawing a standing ovation from supporters.
He credited his victory to grassroots hope and the power of collective action: “We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible, and we won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do.”
In closing, Mamdani promised his supporters, “We will fight for you; because we are you. Today we have spoken in a clear voice, hope is alive.”
