WHY INDIA CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT MAMDANI

Social media's euphoria — and outrage — over New York's new mayor reveals India's insecurity about its own politics

- BY SWATI CHATURVEDI | Special to Gulf News

"Dhoom machale" played as Zohran Mamdani, 34, delivered his victory speech after being elected the first Muslim mayor of New York — the global capital of capitalism. Mamdani quoted from India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's immortal "tryst with destiny" speech, instantly captivating audiences back home.

It almost felt like election day in India, with celebrations and outrage unfolding in equal measure. Social media lit up with images of the photogenic Mamdani family, including his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, who quipped that she was the Mamdani “producer” quite literally in this case.

The BJP IT cell, which these days is struggling to harness public opinion, pushed out talking points suggesting that only India’s “one per cent chattering classes” were celebrating a man who “hated Hinduism” — a claim not based on public facts, especially since Hindus in New York also voted for him. Their argument that Indians didn’t even know the name of their own city mayors was fair on the surface, but disingenuous; unlike in New York, mayors in Indian cities control neither funds nor governance.