In normal circumstances, none of us should really care about a Mayoral election in New York City. Yes, it matters to the citizens of that city, to the Democratic Party, which sees the first glimmer of revival and to Americans who wonder if the political mood is changing. But to us? Not really. It makes very little difference. The Mayor has no foreign policy role, and can’t interfere with tariffs or grant visas.
That’s probably why most educated Indians can’t name the last three mayors of New York City. The only mayor who may have some name recognition is Rudolph Giuliani, who, in the post-9/11 phase, achieved a measure of global fame. So why is there so much excitement in non-Sanghi circles about the victory of Zohran Mamdani?
Some of it has to do with our predilection for taking pride in the ascent of anyone with any sort of Indian connection. Even JD Vance was hailed as a hero on the grounds that he had a wife of Indian origin. Kamala Harris, who had spent her political career identifying as black, was suddenly regarded as being one of us when she became Vice President of the United States. But in Mamdani’s case, I think it goes a little deeper. One reason his victory has attracted so much attention in India is what it tells us about the Indian diaspora in the US and our place in the Western world.
Over the last decade, as social media has amplified Indian origin voices in the United States, we have come to expect a certain kind of Person of Indian Origin (PIO) in America. This person is usually Hindu, emphasises Hindu identity, aligns with conservative/right-wing interests in the US and assures us that (mostly white) Americans love India and Indians in the US. Essential to this characterisation was the relationship between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They were, we were told, so close that as long as Trump was in office, Indian interests were secure. Trump liked India and would back us against our enemies.
Now, Indians know PIOs stand
Three things have destroyed this characterisation. First, all those American right-wingers who, we were assured, were happy to be buddies with people of Indian origin seemed to have had a change of heart. PIOs are now their favourite target on social media, attacked for everything from their alleged theft of American jobs to their culture. Many of the anti-PIO posts are too disgusting to quote here. But it is safe to say that the PIO-right wing coalition has hit stormy weather. Even hero-figure Vance is being asked to explain why his wife continues to be a Hindu.
The second factor has been the breakdown of the Trump-Modi relationship. Though Trump keeps saying Modi is his pal, his actions run counter to India’s interests, and there seems little doubt that he currently prefers Pakistan to India.
India has tried to resolve this breach, but as few in our foreign policy establishment understand Trump (if they did, they would never have let things get to this stage), this has not been easy. Trump seems to want a total surrender on the issues he has raised, such as the purchase of oil from Russia. And now, it looks as though, after several months of posturing about how India caters to its own interests, we are going to have to give him what he wants, especially on oil.
The third factor has been a domestic reassessment of the role of PIOs in the US. For years, we have recognised their right to get involved in Indian political discourse as cheerleaders for Modi and as people who lecture us on social media on how India should be run from their homes in New Jersey and Dallas. The definition of what it is to be Indian has changed, we have told ourselves, so an Indian origin person with an American passport who lives in Omaha must also be listened to on matters pertaining to Indian domestic affairs.
After the deafening silence of PIOs, once our relationship with America plummeted (as Shashi Tharoor and others have pointed out, very few of them lobbied their representatives or spoke out for India), Indians in India are beginning to wonder why we should pay any attention to what these people have to say about affairs in India. Some PIOs have responded that it is not their job to lobby for the Indian government, which is fine. But, at least, now we know where they stand.
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Sticking to his roots
In some ways, our identification of PIOs with the American right-wing has always been misleading. Despite the enthusiastic (if foolish and misguided) belief within the Indian foreign policy establishment that Trump would be good for India, polls suggested that nearly two out of three PIOs in the US supported Kamala Harris over Donald Trump. We just didn’t listen to them. Instead, we were so in thrall to Trump and those PIOs who believed that Modi and Trump would unite in right-wing glory that we put all our eggs in the Mar-a-Lago basket.
Mamdani is the un-Trump in terms of his political platform. So far, he has had little to say about India except for some attacks on Modi. Which is not unusual because mayoral candidates don’t have much to do with foreign policy. But the reason for the Indian interest in him is because he offers an alternative to the right-wing American politicians that we have so enthusiastically supported in recent years.
And unlike many other Indian origin politicians (Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, etc), he has not converted to Christianity or played down his Indian roots. It would be hard for him to do that anyway because his mother, Mira Nair, is such a well-known film director who is much respected in India. His symbolism also does not shy away from his Indian roots. He quoted Jawaharlal Nehru in his victory speech. His mother stood next to him in a handloom sari. And they waved to the world as a Hindi film song played.
None of this is to say that we need to support his policies or agree with his politics. But it is hard to deny that, as mayor of what may be the greatest city in the World, he offers an authentic representation of modern India: born to a Gujarati Khoja and a Punjabi Hindu, familiar with modern Indian history and its statesmen, and proud of Indian popular culture.
I am not sure that even if he had the power to act in the foreign policy field (which, of course, he doesn’t), he would work to advance India’s interests; and neither should he. His responsibility is to the people who elected him and not to the birthplace of his parents. But his victory shows us that it is possible to be proudly Indian, to espouse unconventional views and to still win in America. That alone is worth cheering.
And at a time when our cheek-kissing the posterior of the American right has been such a dismal failure, Mamdani shows us that there is another way.
Vir Sanghvi is a print and television journalist and talk show host. He tweets @virsanghvi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)