Zohran Mamdani quotes Nehru in victory speech: 'Step out from old to new'

Zohran Mamdani, the Democrat socialist leader from Queens who won the New York City mayoral elections on Tuesday (local time), remembered Jawaharlal Nehru in his victory speech.

Mamdani, 34, quoted lines from Nehru's famous ‘A Tryst with Destiny’ speech, which was delivered on August 14, 1947, as India gained independence, marking the end of British rule.

"I think of the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, 'A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance'," he said.

A Tryst with Destiny: Nehru's speech

It was in this speech that Nehru, the first prime minister of India, famously stated, "At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom."

Nehru had said, "Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance."

"The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but so long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over. And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world," he added.

Zohran Mamdani's historic win

Mamdani emerged as the front-runner, defeating former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who contested as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

Mamdani won the elections with record votes. According to the New York City Board of Elections, more than 2 million voters cast their ballots, marking the highest turnout in a mayoral race since 1969.

With his victory, Mamdani has made history as New York City’s youngest mayor since the 19th century, and its first Muslim and South Asian mayor. Born in Uganda to parents of Indian descent, Mamdani also became the first naturalised immigrant to hold the office since Abraham Beame in the 1970s.