As globalisation has struck deeper roots in India over the past three decades, the preoccupation of the Indian elite with the politics of the United States of America has become more marked. The immediacy of information transmission and the huge growth in the number of Indians from well-heeled families who have settled in America have often meant a blurring of national boundaries. Consequently, and thanks to family links and greater international travel, a sizeable section of the Indian elite has become emotionally Americanised. This implies a deep and often partisan interest in the politics of the US.
The emphatic victory of 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani, the son of the filmmaker, Mira Nair, in the mayoral election of New York City has been ecstatically welcomed by that section of the Indian elite which feels left out of the decision-making process by the Narendra Modi government. Within an hour of CNN projecting a clear victory of this self-professed Democratic Socialist, I received a WhatsApp message from an angry lady with impeccable links to the Congress Party; “End of Hindu chauvinism. You venomous morons will have to hide and whisper now. #NYCburiesIslamophobia.”
This reaction was undeniably over the top. However, the coming weeks are likely to see an overdose of peculiar parallels being drawn between the good fight that Mamdani waged in New York City and the lessons it holds for the beleaguered Opposition in India.
That Mamdani’s victory is a landmark event in American politics is apparent. The victory of a Democratic Party candidate in NYC is drearily routine. The city is often regarded as a pocket borough of the Democrats. However, what makes Mamdani’s victory special is that he quite openly flaunted his credentials as a Democratic Socialist — an act of political grandstanding that would have made him unelectable some years ago. It was his personal charisma, his affability, and the fact that his principal
opponent epitomised the rottenness of the old Democratic Establishment that helped him galvanise the multi-cultural electorate. But what appears to have clinched his victory was a rash of freebies he promised to an electorate that was struggling to make ends meet in the First City of global capitalism: freezing of housing rents, free childcare, free bus service and fair-price, State-run grocery shops. Mamdani didn’t hoist the red flag in Times Square, but the platform on which he was elected was sharply at odds with the underlying philosophy that has propelled America. To that extent, Mamdani’s socialism is unquestionably un-American. To succeed beyond this one election, he will have to transform the common sense of the country.
The suggestion by a first-generation immigrant who wasn’t even born in America that (apparently quoting Jawaharlal Nehru) the “soul” of the country had long been “suppressed” is certain to be viewed as highly presumptuous and insolent by those whose American roots are much deeper. I expect Vice-President J.D. Vance to sharply contest Mamdani with an espousal of the Judeo-Christian underpinning of American civilisation.
Whether Mamdani wants to change American politics or merely succeed in politics is something that will be keenly followed in the coming months. There is a furious — and necessary — debate in the Democratic Party over the way ahead after the debacle of 2024. The party’s emphatic victories in New Jersey, Virginia and in NYC on Tuesday also showed that the present unpopularity of President Donald Trump prevented the Republican candidates from building on the gains they had made among Latinos, Asians and Blacks last year. However, far from galvanising the socialist campaign of the likes of the feisty Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the indefatigable senator, Bernie Sanders, the overall results may persuade the Democratic Party that the future lies in presenting a moderate, non-ideological alternative to a highly erratic Trump administration. Indeed, the aftermath of next year’s mid-term elections, not to mention the preceding primaries, may witness a severe bout of internal bloodletting among Democrats over the road ahead. While the socialists will no doubt feel energised by Mamdani’s victory, there is certain to be a reality check once it becomes apparent that a near-bankrupt city administration doesn’t have the financial depth to implement any of the lofty promises that won Mamdani the election.
History has often indicated that it is unfair to assess populists — both from the Right and the Left — on the strength of their election promises. Even if Mamdani does manage to tax the rich into fleeing NYC, he will not be successful in making the city a paradise for the working class. He neither has the emphatic mandate nor the support of the entrenched Democratic Establishment to remove the institutional obstacles on the path of rent and transport reforms. Additionally, Mamdani will have to live down his earlier puerile comments of “defunding the police”. He will have to bear in mind the cruel reality of the mayor being blamed — perhaps unfairly — for any criminal incident or even the perception that NYC is back to being a haven for criminals, this time with the indulgent backing of a mayor who hates the police more.
The turbulence of NYC confronting a backlash over unfulfilled promises is certain to make life impossible for Mamdani unless, of course, he turns his back on his past and embraces a bright future as a conventional politician. Any U-turn is unlikely to happen immediately. To placate his activist base, Mamdani is likely to focus on the issue that catapulted him to fame in the first place: virulent anti-Zionism that invariably morphs into anti-Semitism. Since NYC has the biggest concentration of Jews outside Israel, the ostentatious display of Palestinian and pro-Hamas sentiments by the Mamdani camp could well decide that the resurrection of the Gaza solidarity campaign may well be an expedient diversion. A lot also depends on how Islamist hotheads plan their future after having put their man in City Hall. If the muscle-flexing in black hoods that has become the hallmark of East London and towns in the Midlands of the United Kingdom is replicated in NYC, there will be a virulent backlash.
The outcome of the latest round of elections has been a big setback for both Trump and the MAGA movement. Just as the Democrats are squabbling over the road ahead, the Right has showered fellow Republicans with abuse for underplaying the so-called centrality of Christianity in public life. To this has been added the controversies over the personal faith of Usha Vance and charges that Israel is controlling the foreign policy. These have put a big question mark over the nature of any post-Trump dispensation.
Politically, the US is on the slow path to dysfunctionality.