New York’s youngest new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has chosen Pakistani-American legal scholar Lina Maliha Khan to co-lead.
In a statement, she said, “New Yorkers sent a clear message this week that it’s time to build a city that working people can actually afford. I’m excited to help Zohran build a team that will usher in a new era for New York City and set a new model for Democratic governance.”
Lina was the United States’ former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairperson during the Biden administration.
Khan is willing to take on major corporations such as Amazon and Microsoft to combat monopolies.
The 36-year-old was born in London to Pakistani parents who immigrated to the United States in the 2000s. She is married to Dr Shah Rukh Ali, a cardiologist at Columbia University.
Zohran Mamdani to take oath next year
Mamdani will make history as the first Muslim and South Asian to lead New York City. He will take the oath on January 1, 2026.
He defeated independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, a former governor of New York state.
Mamdani’s all-female transition team also includes other Democratic Party veterans including Khan.
Born in Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York with his family at the age of seven. Mamdani will be the city’s youngest mayor since 1892. He became a naturalised American citizen in 2018.
He has made his Muslim faith a visible part of his politics. He visits mosques regularly and released a campaign video in Urdu about the city’s cost-of-living crisis.
It is pertinent to mention that he used social media to attract large numbers of supporters and voters. He used Bollywood songs and the Urdu language to appeal to supporters from both New York and South Asia. He surely has a lots of fans in Pakistan too.
Mamdani’s strong support of Palestinians and staunch criticism of Israel go further than most of the Democratic establishment. He also supported the arrest of Netanyahu for his war crimes.
