Zohran Mamdani, the Indian-origin democratic socialist, who has been elected as the new mayor of New York City, had the NRI crowd cheering for him while delivering his victory speech.

Mamdani quoted lines from Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech, delivered by Nehru on the eve of India’s independence in 1947.

Mamdani said, “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. Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new.”

While addressing the crowd as the newly elected mayor, Mamdani added that the victory symbolised a new era for New York. “This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders a bold vision of what we will achieve, rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt,” he said.

He promised to prioritise New York City’s cost-of-living crisis, and address it. The most ambitious agenda of his administration would be to tackle the cost-of-living crisis plaguing the city, he said. – editor@nrifocus.com