‘If someone tries to impose a Khan’…: Mumbai BJP president sends out warning after Zohran Mamdani's win in New York

Zohran Mamdani's win in New York has not only ruffled feathers in Donald Trump's MAGA support base but has also reached the shores of the Arabian Sea.

The president of the BJP's Mumbai unit, Ameet Satam, warned in an X post on Wednesday morning that “If someone tries to impose a ‘Khan’ on Mumbai, it will not be tolerated!”

“Just as the color of some international cities is changing, after seeing the surnames of some mayors and witnessing the Maha Vikas Aghadi's vote jihad, it seems necessary to stay cautious in the context of Mumbai..!” he said in his X post, in an apparent reference to New York, the financial capital of the world which has now elected a Muslim socialist, Zohran Mamdani, as its mayor.

His post was shared by Pallavi CT, whose X bio reveals her as the co-convenor of BJP Mumbai's IT cell.

Pallavi, besides sharing Satam's post, also said, "The COLOURS of important cities in the world are changing" and listed London and New York (in an apparent reference to both cities' mayors being of the Muslim faith). She then goes on to ask, "Mumbai Next ? Will we let it happen?" and ends with a warning: "Wake up Mumbaikars".

Pallavi has also been sharing claims of Mamdani's ‘Hinduphobia’.

Mamdani invokes Nehru

Meanwhile, Mamdani, in a victory speech, invoked former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's words on the night India attained freedom: "A moment comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new, When an age ends and the soul of a nation finds utterance. Tonight we step out from the old to the new."

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticised Pt Nehru on several occasions in the past, including on the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas on 31 October. Modi, in Gujarat's Ekta Nagar, claimed that Nehru prevented Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel from integrating Kashmir completely into the Indian Union.

Congress leaders, on the other hand, lauded Mamdani's invocation of the first Indian Prime Minister. While Shashi Tharoor called Mamdani, quoting Nehru, “Wonderfully apt”, Pawan Khera said, “And the fact that Zohran understands and cherishes Pandit Nehru’s vision makes it even sweeter. It rekindles hope that the tide is turning - that soon, India too will rise under a young, educated, progressive, and democratic leader who unites rather than divides.”

Jairam Ramesh also shared an exceprt of Mamdani's speech and said, “Zohran Mamdani, the newly-elected Mayor of New York City, has just quoted from Nehru's immortal Tryst with Destiny speech.”