When Zohran Mamdani hailed Kerala communist leader as 'kind of Mayor New York City needs'

Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor. The 33-year-old Mamdani, who entered the campaign as a virtual unknown, led Cuomo 43.5% to 36.4% with nearly 95% of ballot scanners reporting, according to the city's elections board.

 

Zohran Mamdani was the son of renowned Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan author of Indian ancestry. If he won, Mamdani would become the first Indian-American to serve as mayor of New York. He would also become the city's first Muslim mayor and had a history of pro-Palestinian activism, as pointed out by Reuters.

READ HERE | Who is Zohran Mamdani? Filmmaker Mira Nair's son to be Democratic candidate for NYC Mayoral race

However, certain elements of his politics were frequently criticised by Republicans and other conservatives. His affinity for socialist ideals often led to him being branded a communist by his rivals. One episode now being highlighted by his opponents to support their claim that Mamdani was “really a communist” was a Twitter (now X) post that he reposted nearly five years ago.

 

Zohran Mamdani had shared a Twitter post by the official handle of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Puducherry committee, which congratulated young Arya Rajendran upon becoming the youngest mayor of a city anywhere in the world. A cadre of Kerala's ruling Left party, Arya Rajendran entered office as mayor of Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram, at just 21 years old. She had served as the state president of Balasangham, the CPIM’s children’s wing, and was also a state-level office bearer of the Students Federation of India (SFI) when she successfully contested from the Mudavanmugal ward of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

 

CPIM Puducherry, while appreciating Arya, highlighted her unique achievement by sharing a photo of her oath-taking ceremony alongside another image showing her leading a communist party event. Zohran Mamdani not only shared the post but went so far as to suggest that New York needed a mayor like her. “them: so what kind of mayor does nyc need right now? me:” he wrote while reposting the tweet.

 

Unsurprisingly, many Americans were not impressed by his endorsement of a communist leader. While some said they would prefer he tone down his Leftist principles, others called for him to be deported and booked under the Communist Control Act. The Communist Control Act of 1954 was passed to outlaw the Communist Party and to prohibit members of communist organisations from serving in certain representative capacities, among other purposes in the United States.

What lies ahead for Zohran Mamdani?

Zohran Mamdani began his campaign as a virtual unknown. Though his stance put him at odds with the Democratic establishment, his campaign style—questioning Democratic voters who had supported the Republican president—garnered significant attention. His platform focused on free public buses, universal childcare, freezing rent in subsidised units, and city-run grocery stores—all to be funded through new taxes on the wealthy. He had previously been elected to a state assembly seat in New York’s Queens borough and earned the support of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, two prominent progressive leaders.

 

The current mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, was also set to appear on the November ballot as an independent. However, a series of corruption scandals and his perceived ties to Trump had weakened his standing. The Republican candidate was Curtis Sliwa, a radio host best known as the founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol, who lost to Adams in 2021.

World