Who Is Zohran Mamdani? Meet Mira Nair's Son & Trump Foe Elected Mayor Of New York City

Last Updated:November 05, 2025, 08:22 IST

A practising Shia Muslim, he recently married Syrian-born illustrator Rama Duwaji, whose work has appeared in major outlets like The New Yorker and The Washington Post

Born in Kampala, Uganda, and raised partly in South Africa before his family settled in New York when he was seven, Mamdani’s life reads like a story stitched across continents. (AFP)

Young, outspoken and unapologetically progressive—in the bustling streets of Queens, a new political force has risen.

Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old Democratic Socialist and son of celebrated filmmaker Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani, scripted history on Wednesday as New York City’s first Indian-American and Muslim mayor. In a city struggling with inequality, housing crises, and rising cost of living, the suave Mamdani came in like a breath of fresh air, with his campaign capturing the imagination of voters.

Mamdani’s victory came in the face of fierce, attacks on his policies and Muslim heritage from President Donald Trump, business elites and conservative media. But beyond the slogans and the social media frenzy was a candidate who was finally looking to reshape one of the world’s most complex cities.

Born in Kampala, Uganda, and raised partly in South Africa before his family settled in New York when he was seven, Mamdani’s life reads like a story stitched across continents. After studying Africana Studies at Bowdoin College in Maine, Mamdani returned to Queens to work as a housing counsellor, helping families avoid eviction. According to him, it was in those cramped offices and crowded apartments that he learned more about New York’s politics than any textbook could teach. It is these lessons that would one day propel him from the community frontlines to the State Assembly and now, potentially, to City Hall.

As per Al Jazeera, in 2020, Mamdani took on a four-term incumbent and won the Democratic primary for the 36th Assembly District in Queens, becoming the first South Asian man and the first Ugandan-born person to serve in the New York State Assembly. In 2025, the socialist set his eyes on the throne of the mayor of New York City and focused his campaign on affordability and structural inequality. The pillars of his campaign included free city buses, freezing subway fares and aggressive expansion of transit access. Apart from this, Mamdani pushed for rent freezes for stabilised tenants, creation of a public-housing agency, city-run grocery stores to reduce food costs, and tax increases on the wealthy and corporations.

Small-dollar donations, heavy engagement from younger and diverse voters, and digital outreach tailored to multi-ethnic communities powered Mamdani’s grassroots campaign. A poll in mid-2025 had showed him holding a large lead among Black, Hispanic and Asian voters in the NYC mayoral contest and the prediction seems to have come true.

On the personal front, Mamdani also lets his creative side run. He released a single called “Nani" under the stage name Mr Cardamom in 2019 and the music video featured famed cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey.

A practising Shia Muslim, he recently married Syrian-born illustrator Rama Duwaji, whose work has appeared in major outlets like The New Yorker and The Washington Post. The couple lives in Astoria, Queens.

News world Who Is Zohran Mamdani? Meet Mira Nair's Son & Trump Foe Elected Mayor Of New York City

Read More