India origin New York mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani, has launched a unique election campaign using references from Bollywood movies to describe his election manifesto.
Mamdani, who is the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, is leveraging his Indian roots to make New Yorkers believe that the city could get its first South Asian mayor. In a social media campaign, the Indian- Ugandan-American explains the process of voting in the mayoral elections in New York.
In a video titled “Billionaires have everything. Now it’s your time”, the candidate addressed his target audience in Hindi, listing out things including rent relief, free public buses, and affordable groceries, which he would focus on if elected.
He further elaborated on the title, referring to a dialogue from the 1975 Bollywood movie Deewar.
The candidate said, “Brothers and sisters, only 20 days are left in the election, and the choice is between me and Andrew Cuomo. If you are just turning in, this is what Cumo is offering: building, property, bank balance, a mansion, a ca,r what do you have ?”
Speaking of Cuomo, Mamdani urged people not to vote for the latter. He claimed that Cuomo is being funded by those who favour the Republican Party. “If you vote for Cuomo, New York will also be theirs just like DC”, Mamdani said.
He also explained that New York uses ranked voting. “In case you are a voter, you need to rank all the candidates according to your preference. In case you rank a candidate as the number one but that candidate is lagging behind, then your vote is not wasted, instead, it is transferred to the next best candidate,” Mamdani said.
Addressing the voters, Madani said, “Because of yo,u we have raised 8 million dollars, knocked on 6,00,000 doors. It’s not about what I will become, it’s about what I can do for New Yorkers.”
The candidate reiterated his focus on making New York affordable by changing the basics of food, clothing and shelter.
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