Why Mamdani Would Never Be Mayor — in Gujarat
The New York politician’s Muslim ancestry shines a harsh light on the community’s shrinking role in India’s political life.
Zohran Mamdani.
Photographer: Bloomberg
Zohran Mamdani’s surprise win in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary has, quite expectedly, triggered India’s Hindu right-wing. It has branded him as a jihadi Islamist, and a Hindu-hater, although his mother, the celebrated filmmaker Mira Nair, is a Hindu.
Even to India’s liberals, Mamdani’s campaign is a matter of some envy. After all, what’s the chance of a Muslim politician coming this close to governing a major city in Gujarat, the western Indian state of about 72 million people to which Mamdani traces his patrilineal roots? Unfortunately, the answer in the current political environment is pretty much zero.