By Harinder Mahil

No more will New York be a city where you can traffic in Islamophobia and win an election. – Zohran Mamdani, November 4, 2025

Congratulations to Zohran Mandani for winning the New York mayor’s election. Who would have thought that a young Muslim will become mayor of the largest city of the United States where Donald Trump is the president.

The 34-year-old Mandani had entered the race last year without any name recognition, little money and no party support. It is remarkable that he was able to defeat former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

President Trump’s last-minute threats did not work. He had threatened to arrest Mamdani and deport him if he wins the election. In a post on his Truth Social a day before the election, Trump said New Yorkers have “no choice’ but to vote for Cuomo, throwing his support behind the former governor who was running as an independent. He also threatened to withhold funds from the City if Mamdani won the election.

Mamdani’s historic win in New York is a win for all progressive forces around the world. His victory is part of a pattern: movements built on practical, popular pragmatic ideas are breaking through around the world.

He was considered as an outsider taking on millionaires and billionaires. Political experts had said he was too radical to win. Mandani’s win shows that bold and courageous campaigns that challenge corporate power can win.

Mamdani’s election manifesto included many proposals that have garnered significant interest in the US and Canada. They include a plan to create New York’s first universal childcare program, making city buses free and freezing rent for more than one million tenants. He has also proposed a tax on the city’s wealthiest residents and an increase in the city’s corporate tax rate.

A centrepiece of his campaign is to expand a pilot program and eliminate fares on all city buses. He is proposing expanded dedicated bus lanes to speed up bus traffic.

Mamdani is charismatic, intelligent, articulate and has invented a novel style of political campaigning involving thousands of young people. He is comfortable with social media and uses these skills to communicate effectively. He has not shied away from political fights and proudly espouses working class causes. He is the antidote to fascism, capitalist exploitation, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and white supremacy.

So far, he has managed to demolish all the American hypocritical political conventions.

 More importantly, he has the ability to focus on the kind of core economic issues that have been a priority for working class voters.

His opponents have spent millions of dollars to discredit and malign him. But their efforts have failed. It appears that the more his political opponents attacked him the more popular he got.

Mamdani’s victory shows that an important and groundbreaking political revolution is underway in the United States. It is a revolution that is reverberating across the United States and even the world. His victory has the potential to transform not just New York but the politics of a nation that needs a robust response to Donald Trump’s policies.

Mamdani’s policies may even spur some changes in Canada. They may even encourage young Canadians to get into politics and raise issues that are important to them. I am sure all Canadians can benefit from free transit and a universal childcare program. Democracies around the world need politicians such as Mamdani who are honest and have ideas to serve ordinary people.

What will happen in the future is difficult to say. The path forward will surely be strewn with many obstacles. The Trump administration will make it difficult for him to govern. But for now let us celebrate Mamdani’s victory because it is the victory of working people, victory of immigrants and victory of those who are considered powerless.

Harinder Mahil is a human rights activist and is secretary of Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation.