Zohran Mamdani’s election as Mayor of New York is not merely a political shift but a turning point with ramifications far beyond the city’s skyline. His victory can be seen as a first serious challenge to the global ascendancy of right-wing authoritarianism. Its significance rests on three pivotal themes.

First, America – particularly New York City – occupies a significant place in the collective consciousness of the world. While Donald Trump's narrow, nationalist policies have threatened to erode America's status as a "Vishwaguru", the enduring influence of the United States on our shared imagination cannot be denied. New research across a vast spectrum of disciplines emerges from America and reaches us on a virtually daily basis. From academia to Netflix, American ideas shape aspirations everywhere. A socialist mayor in this citadel of capitalism signals that alternatives to right-wing authoritarianism are viable – and contagious.

Mamdani’s unabashed "Democratic Socialist" label is seismic in US politics, where "socialism" has been a Republican bogeyman and a Democratic liability. His campaign – centered on housing, healthcare and free public transit – reframes inequality as a rights issue, not a market inefficiency. This disrupts a global paradox: despite soaring wealth gaps, right-wing populists, not leftists, have harnessed economic discontent. Mamdani’s success offers a playbook for reviving egalitarian politics.

Donald Trump, predictably, has labelled Mamdani a "communist". This, of course, is patently absurd. Accusing anyone who raises the issue of economic inequality of being a communist has become a standard tactic of right-wing forces across the globe. The goal is to conjure up an image of impractical figures who reject the market-based economy entirely.

However, the people of New York have rejected Trump's attempt at such a characterisation. Of course, arguments will be made that the problems Zohran Mamdani has identified can be more effectively addressed through the application of market principles. For example, instead of imposing rent controls, the focus should be on removing obstacles to the construction of more affordable housing units. And there may well be validity to such arguments. But the political significance of Mamdani's embrace of the term "socialist" is far greater. He is framing the fight against inequality in the language of rights.

Today, right-wing authoritarians are not proponents of free markets and globalisation. They are not interested in open economic systems but rather in economies dominated by a select few powerful interests. They may tolerate limited welfare programs, but they oppose any attempts to frame social issues as matters of rights.

The language of rights, after all, is ultimately linked to the concept of equality (samata). In contrast, the ideology of samarasata – a term the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) uses in place of samata – eschews the very notion of rights. Samarasata implies harmony, but one achieved through the acquiescence of the marginalised. At a deeper level, the battle between Trump and Mamdani is a struggle between samarasata and samata.

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What these resurgent right-wing regimes around the world have in common is the underlying principle of samarasata: that minority groups within each country must silently accept the stepmotherly treatment meted out by the majority community, that they must passively accept their own denigration and humiliation, simply because they are a minority. And that individuals within the majority community, too, must forgo the language of rights and submit their own freedoms to these majoritarian regimes. While this ideology has not achieved complete victory, the democratic institutions that protect fundamental rights are being eroded under its influence, across the globe. Against this backdrop, Zohran Mamdani's victory, rooted in the principle of samata, is all the more heartening.

Mamdani’s identity as a Muslim (a minority constituting less than 1.5% of the US population) is groundbreaking. That a city scarred by radical Islamist terrorism elected a Muslim mayor challenges the right-wing narrative that minorities, especially Muslims, threaten majoritarian cultures. Right-wing regimes thrive on inventing enemies – whether Muslims, immigrants, or dissenters – but Mamdani’s win is a big pushback to such fearmongering.

In an era where democracy’s pillars crumble from Hungary to India, Mamdani’s win could be a tactical blueprint. It shows that economic justice and minority inclusion can converge – and that the language of rights can outflank the hollow "harmony" of majoritarianism. For liberals worldwide, this is not just hope. It could be a strategy.