NYC mayoral election an “internal matter” of United States: official sources on Zohran Mamdani’s victory

 The mayoral election in the city of New York, the largest city of the United States, is an “internal matter” of the U.S. and India wishes well for the winner Zohran Mamdani, sources here said indicating that they had taken note of some of the critical remarks that Mr. Mamdani had made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Gujarati Muslim community during his campaign.

The Hindu was told that Mr. Mamdani’s mention of the Indian leadership and developments in India on the campaign trail were viewed as a “desperate attempt” to polarise the Indian diaspora voters who formed a crucial part of Mr. Mamdani’s support base in New York City. They pointed out that yesterday’s results included other Indian-origin individuals like Ghazala Hashmi who won the race for Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor and Aftab Pureval who won the race for the Mayor of Cincinnati but it was Mr. Mamdani who alone had included critical references to the current Indian leadership during his campaign.

Sources acknowledged that the victory of Mr. Mamdani was part of the many Indian immigrant success stories in the United States but said that his success has brought big responsibilities for him as he had promised to provide affordable housing to the city which is short of affordable housing. “Winning is different from governing and now Mr. Mamdani has to deliver on the governance front,” said an official source.   

Mr. Mamdani had visited a Hindu place of worship in New York City on October 22, 2025 and said, “I have been critical of Mr. Modi because of the vision that I grew up with was that India was pluralistic and an India where everyone belonged no matter of their religion. My critique of Mr. Modi and the BJP has been for their vision of India which only has room for certain kinds of Indians,” Mr. Mamdani had said.

“Pluralism to me is something to be celebrated, something to be strived for,” said Mr. Mamdani who on Wednesday (November 5, 2025) quoted India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s August 15, 1947 ‘A Tryst with Destiny’ speech while declaring victory in the mayoral race in which he defeated former New York mayor Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa.

“A moment comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new. When an age ends and the soul of a nation long-suppressed finds utterance,” said Mr. Mamdani quoting Prime Minister Nehru and said, “Tonight we have stepped out from the old into the new”.