New York City Mayor Election: Filmmaker Mira Nair's son Zohran Mamdani emerges as front-runner in final lap

NEW YORK: The New York City mayoral election is over, and the results will be out today. According to current estimates, Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani, a member of the state assembly, is leading. According to the 'Real Clear Politics' opinion poll, Zohran Mamdani has a clear advantage over his opponents. The support is 46.1 percent. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Curtis Sliwa of the Republican Party are in the fray. Currently, Andrew Cuomo has 31.8 percent support and Curtis Sliwa has 16.3 percent support. About 8.5 million people are voting.

Zohran Mamdani defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor in June. Mamdani, a socialist, says he will reduce the cost of living in New York City and improve the quality of life for ordinary people. He promises free travel on the government's city buses, a child welfare program, solving the housing crisis, and raising the corporate tax rate.

Funds will be cut if Mandani wins: Trump

It will be a major setback for Trump's anti-immigration policies if Mandani wins. Trump, who accused Mandani of being an illegal immigrant, had threatened that he would not think twice about arresting him if he blocked immigration arrests in New York City. Trump warned that if Mandani wins, he would stop funding for New York. The New York City mayoral, Virginia, and New Jersey gubernatorial elections are equally crucial for Trump and Democrats. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Mandani is a communist. However, Mandani's stance is that he is a democratic socialist. The other candidates in the race are former New York governor and Democrat Andrew Cuomo, an independent, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Trump had advocated for independent candidate Andrew Cuomo in the context of the dim possibility of the Republican candidate's victory. "I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or another, 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," said Trump.

Mahmood Mandani

Zohran Mandani is the son of renowned Indian film director Mira Nair and Ugandan writer and Indian-origin Mahmood Mandani.