New York: The biggest city in the US—New York—now has its first Muslim and first South Asian mayor, Zohran Mamdani. The 34-year-old democratic socialist from Queens, who had a meteoric rise from near-total obscurity, also has an Odisha connect.
His ties to Odisha come through his mother and internationally acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair. Born in Rourkela, Nair was raised in Bhubaneswar. She had spent 18 years of her early life in Odisha.
Her father, Amrit Lal Nair, an Odisha cadre IAS, played a key role in setting up the Rourkela Steel Plant. In recognition of his legacy, there are landmarks like Nair Stadium and Nair Chowk in Odisha.
Mamdani is now an American citizen. He has made a connect with Indian-origin voters in the US, including using Hindi in campaign outreach. Even at the end of his victory speech, Bollywood song ‘Dhoom Machale’ was played in the background. He had also integrated South Asian cultural references in his messaging and gestures during the campaign.
