Editorial: Mamdani breaks many a barrier

It was one of the closely watched and widely reported election campaigns culminating in Zohran Mamdani’s election as the Mayor of New York. The Democratic Party has been grappling with internal debates and discussions after the humiliating loss in the presidential election. The progressive group within the party has been arguing that the main cause behind the party’s defeat was abandoning a progressive agenda and taking a wishy-washy centrist position on many important issues. Mamdani has dared to stick to his guns by refusing to compromise on controversial issues, which any other “pragmatic” democrat would. So much so that many party leaders were reluctant to endorse him. He had many enemies. Be it prominent billionaires who were averse to his anti-rich ideas or the powerful and influential Jewish community, who virulently opposed him for his outspoken anti-Zionist views, strong criticism of Israel, and support of the Palestinian cause. Lastly, the Republicans, especially Trump, were more hostile towards the 34-year-old leader of the Muslim faith. The media also label him as a “far-left” leader, and that label has lost its true meaning and import in present-day American politics. Mamdani rightly describes himself as a democratic socialist, which seems closer to the truth. Seen in this context, Mamdani’s stunning victory is nothing short of a historical event. He has also breached several barriers relating to age, religion, and race, and to some extent, the social class, by becoming the youngest person and the first Muslim to become New York Mayor. On top of it, he has South Asian origins and was born in Africa.

Political analysts are busy trying to decode the significance of the elections not only in New York but also in Virginia and New Jersey, where Democratic governors were elected. Many consider Mamdani’s spectacular victory as a rebuff to and rejection of Trump’s divisive, authoritarian, rightwing politics. Secondly, the New York campaign provided a strategy, a template to counter the Republican and Trump brand of politics by focusing on the grassroots mobilisation on the campaign front, addressing the basic issues that affect the common Americans without fear of being branded as a “far-left radical”.

It was becoming difficult to distinguish the Democratic Party from the Republican Party on many issues, which led to its traditional voters deserting it and migrating to Trump and the Republican camp. Mamdani's campaign strategically focused on some of these sections and brought them back into the party fold. He managed to inspire and win over the youth who were receptive to his politics and liked his unconventional campaigning methods. His campaign also resonated with immigrants, including South Asians, blacks and Latinos, who were looking for a leader who would promise them a better life.

The real challenge for Mamdani will be to deal with endless targeted attacks by Trump and even the old guard within the Democratic Party, which might leave less time and energy to fulfil his big election promises. Just as his victory is being seen as a possible precursor to the revival of the party’s electoral fortunes, his failure will be used to discredit his brand of progressive politics. Now he needs to be more pragmatic and focus on delivering on election promises to retain the popular support, which will be critical to fight political battles and guarantee his political survival and growth.