Fresh off his historic election win to become the next Mayor of New York City, Democrat Zohran Mamdani paid homage to his Indian heritage by quoting from one of the most famous speeches in 20th-century history: Jawaharlal Nehru’s “Tryst with Destiny.”
Addressing his supporters after clinching the mayoralty, Mamdani invoked the stirring words delivered by India’s first Prime Minister at the moment of the country’s independence in 1947.
Quoting the Architect of Modern India
Mamdani cited one of the most crucial sentences of Nehru’s speech, comparing India’s path to independence with New York City’s move to a new era in politics:
“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,” quoted Mamdani, adding that tonight “New York has stepped from the old into the new.”
Zohran Mamdani, the newly-elected Mayor of New York City, has just quoted from Nehru’s immortal Tryst with Destiny speech.
Actually these very words of Nehru had also been used by Alex Salmond in his campaign for the independence of Scotland in November 2013 https://t.co/ERQa8dhiaC pic.twitter.com/WCtUNTcRE7
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 5, 2025
The original speech was delivered at midnight on August 14, 1947, the time of transition from British colonial rule to a free, independent nation. The quotation in its entirety is: “Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny. Now the time has come when we shall redeem our pledge. A moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new.
Mamdani Pens NYC History
The 34-year-old Democratic Socialist won a historic victory to become the youngest mayor of New York City in over a century. Several firsts define his election:
First Muslim Mayor of New York City
First South-Asian immigrant to hold the top post Mamdani secured 50.4 per cent of the vote, according to the latest count from the Associated Press. He defeated his main rivals, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. The use of a quote from the architect of modern India underlines the roots of Mamdani and just how deep the resonance of his victory is across the South Asian diaspora.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
