'Out From The Old To The New': NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani Echoes Nehru's Words

“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.” 

These are the words with which Zohran Mamdani, who won the New York Mayoral election on November 4, chose to begin his term as the first Muslim-elect mayor of NYC. Mamdani was echoing Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's speech on the day of Indian independence, also known as his Tryst With Destiny speech.

In his speech delivered on November 4 night EST, Mamdani challenged US President Donald Trump on immigration, heralding the toppling of "political dynasty” and said his election symbolises “hope” over tyranny and "big money” as he cited former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to assert that the city has stepped out from the “old into the new."

Mamdani registered a decisive and historic win at the polls on Tuesday as he defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and received Trump’s endorsement only on the eve of the election. 

With 91 per cent of votes in, Mamdani garnered 1,036,051 votes (50.4 per cent), a clear lead over Cuomo’s 854,995 votes (41.6 per cent) and Sliwa’s 146,137 votes. With this win, Mamdani, 34 born in Uganda to renowned Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani, becomes the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the political seat in the largest city in the US.

“The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” Mamdani said, delivering a fiery and rousing victory speech to thousands of his supporters at the Brooklyn Paramount, a music venue in Downtown Brooklyn, around midnight.

“New York, tonight you have delivered. A mandate for change. A mandate for a new kind of politics. A mandate for a city we can afford. And a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” he said in his speech that was punctuated by thunderous applause and cheers from his supporters.

Mamdani invoked Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, as he spoke about ushering in a new era in New York City politics.

“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. So let us speak now, with clarity and conviction that cannot be misunderstood, about what this new age will deliver, and for whom,” he said. 

Outlook's March 11, 2024 issue Re/Discovery had explored Jawaharlal Nehru's influence on Indian democratic institutions. In the issue, editor Chinki Sinha wrote: "Much has changed since India became an independent country and public discourse about many figures and facts over the years reflect the changing Indian State and social and political environment."

Despite Indian perception that Nehru's legacy is fading into democratic and institutional decay, as written by Tanvir Aeijaz in the issue, Mamdani used Nehru's words to challenge Trump, who has launched a crackdown on immigration in his second term as President, asserting that New York will be powered by immigrants and after his historic victory, will be “led by an immigrant”.

“Together, we will usher in a generation of change. And if we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves.

"After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power,” Mamdani said to thunderous applause.

“This is not only how we stop Trump; it’s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.

“We will hold bad landlords to account because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants. We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks. We will stand alongside unions and expand labour protections because we know, just as Donald Trump does, that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to extort them become very small indeed.

"New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.

“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he declared.

Mamdani also promised that New York will be the light in “this moment of political darkness”, and where “we believe in standing up for those we love, whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall. Your struggle is ours, too.

“And we will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism. Where more than one million Muslims know that they belong — not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power. No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election.” "I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this,” he said.

In his speech, Mamdani thanked everyday New Yorkers who have been so often forgotten by the “politics of our city” but who made this movement their own - from “Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas. Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses. Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties. Yes, aunties.” Promising an era of hope for New Yorkers, Mamdani said there were many who thought this day would never come, who feared that “we would be condemned only to a future of less, with every election consigning us simply to more of the same.

“And there are others who see politics today as too cruel for the flame of hope to still burn. New York, we have answered those fears. Tonight we have spoken in a clear voice. Hope is alive. Hope is a decision that tens of thousands of New Yorkers made day after day, volunteer shift after volunteer shift, despite attack ad after attack ad. And while we cast our ballots alone, we chose hope together. Hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair. We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible. And we won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do.”

Flanked by his parents and wife, Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s nearly 25-minute speech ended with the popular Indian film song ‘Dhoom Machale’ from the movie 'Dhoom'. “To my parents, mama and baba: You have made me into the man I am today. I am so proud to be your son. And to my incredible wife, Rama, hayati: There is no one I would rather have by my side in this moment, and in every moment,” he said.