Zohran Mamdani's Hindu Heritage and the Campaign for Hindu Votes

The election for the Mayor of New York is three weeks away, and at this point there is no denying that it is increasingly looking similar to how elections play out in South Asia. Like Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (Unite India March), where he walked the length of India from the tip of Kashmir to the edge of Kanyakumari over several months in 2022, Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani scaled the length of Manhattan in a single day, walking from Inwood to Battery Park in June.

Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams (who recently dropped out of the race) have been spotted at multiple Gurdwaras and Hindu celebrations across the city. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa has talked about how the Ramayan ‘reminds us of the power of selfless service’, while chants of ‘Amar Mayor Tomar Mayor’ ('Our Mayor, Your Mayor' in Bangla) ring through the crowd anytime Mamdani visits South Asian neighbourhoods in New York. Even samosas and pakoras have become the unofficial campaign fuel for Mamdani’s canvassers courtesy of South Asian organisations like DRUM Beats that endorsed Mamdani at the start of his campaign.

But last weekend, the mayor’s race ventured into an unmistakable desi territory when Zohran Mamdani visited two major Hindu temples in New York City. After facing intense pushback for his comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom Mamdani said he would not welcome in New York as Mayor, Mamdani’s dual temple visits signal his attempt to appeal to Hindu New Yorkers, many of whom have banded together to create Hindus for Zohran to break the monolithic narrative around the community, and their support for mayoral candidates in New York. “We felt Hindus needed to mobilise to protect Zohran and his campaign against increasingly hateful attacks from Hindutva organisations and spokespeople,” said Sunita Vishwanath, who runs Hindus for Human Rights and co-founded Hindus for Zohran in a personal capacity. “Most of us are part of neighbourhood and other mobilisations to support Zohran for mayor, but we are also coming together as Hindus for Zohran to disprove the notion that Hindu New Yorkers don’t support Zohran,” she added over email.

Zohran Mamdani outside the Ganesh Temple in Queens with Hindus for Zohran. Photo: Yashica Dutt

Mamdani is a practising Muslim and has visited several Gurdwaras as well as Masjids (especially in South Asian majority neighbourhoods like Midwood, Kensington, Parkchester and Richmond Hill) throughout his campaign. But despite visiting and speaking at Hindu festival celebrations during his term as an assembly member, this was the first time that the Mamdani campaign rang the bells of a major Indian Hindu temple, especially since his primary win and the pushback from Cuomo supporting Hindu groups (Mamdani had visited a Nepalese temple in Ridgewood in early March). As a Dalit woman who had never set foot inside a temple in New York since I moved here 11 years ago, I followed Mamdani and his team as they were ushered inside the Ganesh Temple in Flushing, Queens with the characteristic frenzy that has since become a trademark of his visits in South Asian spaces. A small throng gathered into a wave as we collectively entered the main temple chamber, where Mamdani took blessings from the priest, who also performed a brief aarti – presumably for his success in the race. A source close to the campaign I spoke with later, revealed that Mamdani had always been open to visiting a temple during his campaign, but they were also clear that they would not visit somewhere he wasn’t invited.

It seemed like on October 5, soon after Dusshera, both the Ganesh Temple as well as BAPS Akshardham temple in Flushing had invited and eagerly met with Mamdani, who was immediately swarmed by attendees to take photos. Sagar Chadha, one of the co-founders of Hindus for Zohran, who helped orchestrate the Ganesh Temple visit, told me that he had been coming to this temple since he was five and wanted Mamdani to “come here and receive the love”. When I asked him about the narrative around Mamdani’s comments on Modi, particularly from groups like Indian Americans for Cuomo, who flew a banner over New York City’s Hudson River, asking New Yorkers to ‘Save NYC from Global Intifada. Reject Mamdani’, Chadha didn’t seem perturbed. “We are not very concerned with geopolitical politics or international dynamics to distract from what [Mamdani’s] focused on doing in New York City,” he said.

The question of hate comments against Mamdani, particularly from Hindu right-wing agitator Kajal Hindusthani, who at a New York event in July had called Mamdani a ‘rakshas’ (demon) and compared Muslims to ‘zombies’, however seemed inescapable when Mamdani spoke to the press outside. “I can tell you that the way I was received today at two different mandirs is something that I will always remember… I’m proud of my Hindu heritage. I’m proud to be someone who would be the first Muslim Mayor of this city, and I’m proud to hold all those things together as we deliver this vision for the city,” Mamdani said in response.

When asked about Andrew Cuomo receiving support from a group of Indian Americans, Mamdani brought the conversation back to his policies of focusing on New Yorkers and affordability, as he is known to do throughout his campaign. “Andrew Cuomo has a politics of division, and he will find others who want to participate in that same politics, no matter where they’re from. But what New Yorkers are here for is a new kind of politics,” said Mamdani. He also added that he is proud to be running to be the mayor who will ensure that Hindu children in this city can celebrate Diwali, referring to the bill he had co-sponsored with Council Member Jenifer Rajkumar, which led the festival to be declared a public school holiday in New York City in 2023.

Sagar Chadha told me that as a proud Hindu New Yorker who grew up Hindu American in New York City, he denounced the ideology of groups like Indian Americans for Cuomo that had labelled Mamdani as Hinduphobic. “That is a faction of the Hindu community that is not supported by the overall Hindu community. Hindus in New York City have repeatedly, year by year, decade after decade, shown how inclusive they are, how committed to unity they are with all the different faiths,” he said.

But having covered the election and the Mamdani campaign since April, and watching the politics evolve around his Hindu identity, it was impossible to not think about how caste fits into this conversation. Although I have met several Dalit and caste oppressed New Yorkers who have canvassed for the Mamdani campaign, his temple visit further highlighted the disconnect of Dalit New Yorkers like me from larger Hindu spaces, and even groups like Hindus for Zohran that foreground that identity.

I asked Chadha if there was a space for Dalits in Hindus for Zohran, and about their stance on caste. “There is not only a space, there is a seat at the table. There should never be any division amongst any group of people whatsoever, and certainly for Dalit Americans, you are valued as members of the Hindu community,” Chadha told me after Zohran and his crew had departed and the early October evening darkness settled around us.

This has been among the most exciting electoral races in the recent history of New York City. Given the tug of war around his background and identity (an attendee at the temple asked Mamdani to also admit that he was half Hindu and Punjabi despite being a ‘proud Muslim’), Zohran Mamdani’s mayorality will be even more exciting to witness if he wins the election in November. But can we say which way will Mamdani land on caste? Keep an eye on this space to find out more.

This article was originally published on the author's Substack, 'Featuring Dalits'.

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