Zohran Kwame Mamdani, son of filmmaker Mira Nair, wins election to New York State Assembly
New York: Indian-Ugandan Zohran Kwame Mamdani, son of filmmaker Mira Nair, has won the election for New York State Assembly, one of two candidates of Indian-origin elected to NY state office.
It's official: we won. I'm going to Albany to fight to tax the rich, heal the sick, house the poor & build a socialist New York. But I can't do it alone. To win socialism, we'll need a mass movement of the multiracial working class as well. So let's build one, Mamdani tweeted.
A report in patch.com said Mamdani, 29, Democratic nominee for the 36th Assembly District, ran unopposed in the general election after defeating incumbent Assembly Member Aravella Simotas in the Democratic primary election in June.
He had got 8,410 votes or 51.2 percent of the ballots cast in the June primary while Simotas had got 48.6 percent of the votes. Mamdani got an automatic win once the polls closed Tuesday night in New York City.
He is a first-time candidate for elected office and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America or DSA.
In a tweet, Nair said, "And Zohran is in! Change is gonna come."
On his website, Mamdani said he is running for State Assembly because it's time to guarantee housing to all New Yorkers as a right, regardless of ability to pay. It's time to desegregate our schools, fully eliminate cash bail, ban solitary confinement, fund and fix the MTA, end workplace discrimination, and fight for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice for the many, not the few.
Mamdani said this election isn't about a single candidate but about a movement.
As a democratic socialist, I know that we'll never win the rights we all deserve - rights to healthcare, housing, education, nutrition, childcare, and public power - without a grassroots movement of the working class rising up to demand them. Another world is possible, but only if we fight for it together.
Mamdani was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda, and grew up in New York City after his family moved here when he was seven years old.
Indian-American lawyer Jenifer Rajkumar also got elected to New York State Assembly, becoming the first South Asian woman elected to NY state office.
Rajkumar, Democratic Nominee for NY State Assembly, is a Stanford-educated lawyer and immigrant-rights advocate.
Congratulations to @JeniferRajkumar on becoming the first South Asian woman elected to NY state office! Jenifer is a longtime public servant and legal advocate, and we know she'll be a strong advocate for South Asian voices in Albany, the Indian American Impact Fund tweeted.
Rajkumar will represent New York City in the state legislature. The 38th Assembly District includes Woodhaven, Ridgewood, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, and Glendale.
Rajkumar is a lawyer, Professor at the City University of New York, and a former New York State Government official. According to her profile on her website, Rajkumar has early roots in public service. She graduated from Stanford Law School with distinction for her pro bono legal work on behalf of vulnerable individuals.
Her parents immigrated to the United States from India and settled in the Queens neighborhood of New York.
Rajkumar serves on the Legal Advisory Council of Sanctuary for Families, New York City's leading service provider, and advocates for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and related forms of gender violence. She has spoken on public interest law and policy at Stanford Law School, CUNY Law School, and Harvard Law School.
In 2015 and 2016, she was selected to Super Lawyers' New York-Metro Rising Stars List, a recognition given to no more than 2.5% of the lawyers in New York. Her profile said Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo had appointed her as the Director of Immigration Affairs & Special Counsel for New York State.
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What Trump did to Maduro, Modi has done to Nitish Kumar: Cong's Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday took a swipe at the BJP over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to move to the Rajya Sabha, saying what US President Donald Trump did to then Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now done to the JD(U) chief.
He also said that Kumar's decision to step down as chief minister is a betrayal of the mandate the people gave in assembly polls in November last year. Ramesh said the people of the state voted for Kumar's re-election and not for a BJP chief minister.
Ramesh's remarks came a day after JD(U) chief Kumar filed nomination papers for Rajya Sabha elections, marking a turning point in Bihar politics and virtually bringing the curtain down on his tenure as the state's longest-serving chief minister. The move has paved the way for a new government in the Hindi heartland state, likely to be headed by the BJP.
Expressing gratitude to the people of the state, Kumar had said on X, "For more than two decades, you have consistently placed your trust and support in me, and it is on the strength of that trust that we have served Bihar and all of you with complete dedication. It is the power of your trust and support that has enabled Bihar today to present a new dimension of development and dignity."
Asked about this major development in Bihar politics, Ramesh told PTI, "During the Bihar election campaign, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, had said that Nitish Kumar would not remain chief minister for long because the BJP's aim was to remove him. Ultimately, that is what happened."
Kumar hasn't even been chief minister for four months in the present term and he's being removed, Ramesh said.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Modi and the BJP, Ramesh said, "What Trump did to Maduro, Modi ji has done to Nitish Kumar. This is a coup"
The US military had seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their Caracas home on January 3 in a stunning operation that landed them in New York to face federal drug trafficking charges.
On Kumar's move to the Rajya Sabha, Ramesh said, "This was inevitable. This is a betrayal of the people of Bihar and the mandate they gave."
The mandate wasn't to make a BJP chief minister, but to make Nitish Kumar the chief minister.
"It's possible that tomorrow, (Chandrababu) Naidu is brought here and made a minister, a coup can happen there too. There was a coup in Maharashtra too, the split the NCP and Shiv Sena... This is all the work of the 'G2'," Ramesh said.
He said the Congress just has six MLAs in Bihar but it will continue to raise the issues of the people and Kumar's move to Rajya Sabha is a "betrayal of the mandate".
The Congress on Thursday had said a "leadership coup and regime change orchestrated by G2" has taken place and is a "huge betrayal" of the mandate of the people.
