Zohran Mamdani emerges as front-runner as NYC Mayoral race enters final lap
New York (PTI): New York City is all set to elect a new mayor on Tuesday as the mayoral race enters its final lap, with Indian-descent Zohran Kwame Mamdani emerging as the front-runner to take up the top political post in America's biggest city.
Mamdani, 34, born in Uganda and raised in New York City, is a New York State Assembly member and democratic socialist running for Mayor.
The Democratic nominee will face off against former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate and the Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa on the ballots.
Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, whose administration has been plagued by scandals, dropped out of the mayoral race in September.
November 4 is election day across the US, with polls opening from 6 am to 9 pm. The early voting period, which commenced on October 25, ended on Sunday.
Mamdani, the son of renowned Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan author of Indian ancestry, upset Cuomo in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor and was declared victorious in June.
The Board of Elections has said that more than 735,000 people voted early in this election, which is about four times more than the number of ballots cast during the 2021 elections.
Mamdani has emerged as the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election race and has promised to “lower costs and make life easier” for New Yorkers as the city gets “too expensive.”
Mamdani has vowed that as Mayor, he will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilised tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent.
Promising fast, fare-free buses, his campaign said that as Mayor, he’ll permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus – and make them faster by rapidly building priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and dedicated loading zones to keep double parkers out of the way.
Mamdani would also implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high-quality programming for all families.
With food prices out of control, his campaign also promised that as Mayor, he would create a network of city-owned grocery stores focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit.
Mamdani has a plan to bring down the cost-of-living through city-owned grocery stores, universal childcare, and other bold proposals, and he knows exactly how to pay for it, too, the campaign said.
US President Donald Trump has been critical of Mamdani and has described him as a “communist” and “far worse than a Socialist.”
In an interview with CBS 60 Minutes on Sunday, Trump said that Mamdani “will do a worse job” than former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio by far.
“And it's gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York. Because if you have a Communist running New York, all you're doing is wasting the money you're sending there. So I don't know that he's won, and I'm not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it's gonna be between a bad Democrat and a Communist, I'm gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you.”
The New York Times reported that former President Barack Obama called Mamdani on Saturday, saying his "campaign has been impressive to watch.”
Obama also offered to be a “sounding board” if Mamdani wins the election, the NYT said.
A group called ‘Hindus for Mamdani’ held a prayer gathering in support of the mayoral candidate Saturday in the city, offering “blessings for Zohran’s protection and strength ahead of Election Day.
Addressing the event, Nair had said that her son’s campaign is not for one community or one faith, but for all New Yorkers, for a city that holds every colour, every tongue, every prayer within its vast and generous embrace.
“As his mother, I've watched him walk this path with grace and grit and humour and humility, qualities I know that come from his father also who taught him that the truest joy is found in serving, in thinking about others,” she said.
“May this gathering itself be a blessing, a reminder that our unity across faith and difference is the true strength of this city, and may Zohran bring the new dawn to our day with hope, with courage and with love,” she added.
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What is Iran’s 10-point plan? Key demands ahead of US talks in Islamabad
Tehran/Islamabad: Iran has outlined a 10-point plan as the basis for upcoming talks with the United States, expected to begin in Islamabad on April 11, according to a statement from the Iranian Supreme National Security Council.
The plan lays out Tehran’s key political, military and economic demands, and is being seen as a framework for negotiations following the recent escalation in the region.
Strait of Hormuz at the centre
A major focus of the plan is the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route. Iran has proposed “controlled passage through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the Iranian armed forces,” which it says would give the country a unique economic and geopolitical position.
The plan also calls for the “establishment of a safe transit protocol” in the Strait that would guarantee Iran’s dominance under an agreed mechanism.
Call to end conflict
Iran has demanded “the necessity of ending the war against all elements of the axis of resistance,” signalling its expectation that hostilities should stop not only in Iran but also involving allied groups in the region.
US troop withdrawal
Another key demand is the “withdrawal of US combat forces from all bases and deployment points in the region,” indicating Tehran’s long-standing position against American military presence in West Asia.
Sanctions relief and compensation
The plan places strong emphasis on economic measures. It calls for “full payment of Iran’s damages according to estimates,” along with “the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions and resolutions of the Board of Governors and the Security Council.”
It also seeks “the release of all Iranian assets and properties frozen abroad,” which have been a major point of contention for years.
Binding global guarantee
Finally, Iran has demanded that all these terms be formally recognised through “a binding Security Council resolution,” suggesting it wants international legal backing to ensure enforcement.
What this means
The 10-point plan reflects Iran’s broader push for security guarantees, economic relief and regional influence. The upcoming talks in Islamabad are expected to test how far both sides are willing to negotiate on these demands.
