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Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral win draws sharp political reactions in India
Zohran Kwame Mamdani's victory in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor has evoked sharp reactions in India.
In a post on X, Congress Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Singhvi said: 'When Zohran Mamdani opens his mouth, Pakistan's PR team takes the day off. India doesn't need enemies with 'allies' like him shouting fiction from New York.'
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member Kangana Ranaut also reacted on X, appending a video clip of Mamdani participating in a protest against the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on 'the ruins of Babri Masjid', and insinuated that he is anti-Hindu. 'He sounds more Pakistani than Indian,' she said.
In the past, Mamdani has criticised the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. More recently, he said he would not share a stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, drawing a parallel between Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A senior Sangh Parivar leader, who handles diaspora outreach, described Mamdani as having close ties with the Pakistani diaspora in the US and as someone known to take anti-India positions.
During Mamdani's election campaign, the India Impact Fund—an organisation that promotes the participation of South Asian Americans in US politics—supported him. Other groups, such as 'Indian Americans for Cuomo' (supporting his rival Andrew Cuomo) and the 'American Hindu Coalition', opposed him.
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Time of India
18 minutes ago
- Time of India
Rajasthan Cricket Association: A power struggle amid govt silence
1 2 Jaipur: The Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) is grappling with unprecedented turmoil as its govt-appointed ad hoc committee, tasked with conducting elections, has overstayed its tenure by over a year, a first in the association's history. On June 27, the panel, formed on March 28, 2024, will complete five tenures. Unlike the 2014–2017 period, when an ad hoc panel managed RCA affairs due to suspension by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) over Lalit Modi's controversial reappointment, the current crisis stems from political interference and committee infighting. Led by BJP MLA Jaideep Bihani, the committee is now plagued by internal rifts, with members accusing each other of power grabs and mismanagement. The infighting has reduced the six-member panel to a two-member team, raising questions about Rajasthan govt's silence despite its authority to resolve the crisis. Bihani, an MLA from Sriganganagar, wields significant influence within the committee due to his political stature. His position as a BJP legislator grants him leverage over other members, enabling unilateral decisions that have fueled dissent. Bihani's actions, such as suspending the Pali and Bikaner District Cricket Associations (DCA) and forming selection committees without proper procedure, have been criticized as authoritarian. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Four committee members, Dhananjai Singh Khimsar, Dharamveer Singh Sekhawat, Ratan Singh, and Harish Chandra Singh, have openly rebelled, accusing Bihani of using political clout to marginalize them and undermine RCA's democratic processes. They allege he has neglected meetings for months and made baseless match-fixing allegations against the Rajasthan Royals during IPL 2025, prompting the franchise to lodge complaints with the Rajasthan State Sports Council (RSSC) and other authorities. The state govt's inaction has drawn scrutiny, particularly as the ad hoc committee's prolonged tenure, originally set for three months with a subsequent extension, has delayed RCA elections indefinitely. "Bihani is from the ruling party but seems to have support from a central leader, openly confronting the sports minister/government. The ad hoc was created for reasons now happening. Three months have turned into five extensions, a mockery," said a source. Bihani, however, refuted the claims. "CM sir doesn't pay attention to cricket, so to say that I am getting his support is wrong. But yes, if I had done anything wrong while running RCA, he would have reprimanded me. The only interference there is, is from the Sports Council. I will comment on this tomorrow if the ad hoc panel gets an extension," Bihani told TOI. Meanwhile, former CM Ashok Gehlot also waded into the issue, criticizing the govt's silence and alleging on X that infighting in RCA had disappointed cricket lovers and made it challenging to organize the IPL. "Elections should have been held within three months, yet it's been one and a half years," Gehlot said, adding that during his son, Vaibhav Gehlot's tenure as RCA president, the association hosted international matches and initiated projects like a world-class stadium, which are now stalled. Sources attributed the delay in RCA elections to the "entry of too many politicians' sons". Notable names include Jodhpur DCA president Dhananjai Singh Khimsar (son of health minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar), Banswara DCA president Prempratap Singh Malviya (son of BJP leader Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya), Baran DCA treasurer Pawan Dilawar (son of education minister Madan Dilawar), Churu DCA president Parakram Singh Rathore (son of former Leader of Opposition Rajendra Singh Rathore), Sikar DCA treasurer Ashish Tiwari (son of Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari), Alwar DCA president Mohit Yadav (son of former BJP minister Jaswant Yadav), and Sirohi DCA president Vikram Dewasi (son of panchayati raj, rural development and disaster management minister Otaram Dewasi). "Too many sons of politicians want to marry a single bride - RCA. So best is to avoid marriage. They don't want to do things in haste and repent later," a source said. eom Jaipur: The Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) is grappling with unprecedented turmoil as its govt-appointed ad hoc committee, tasked with conducting elections, has overstayed its tenure by over a year, a first in the association's history. On June 27, the panel, formed on March 28, 2024, will complete five tenures. Unlike the 2014–2017 period, when an ad hoc panel managed RCA affairs due to suspension by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) over Lalit Modi's controversial reappointment, the current crisis stems from political interference and committee infighting. Led by BJP MLA Jaideep Bihani, the committee is now plagued by internal rifts, with members accusing each other of power grabs and mismanagement. The infighting has reduced the six-member panel to a two-member team, raising questions about Rajasthan govt's silence despite its authority to resolve the crisis. Bihani, an MLA from Sriganganagar, wields significant influence within the committee due to his political stature. His position as a BJP legislator grants him leverage over other members, enabling unilateral decisions that have fueled dissent. Bihani's actions, such as suspending the Pali and Bikaner District Cricket Associations (DCA) and forming selection committees without proper procedure, have been criticized as authoritarian. Four committee members, Dhananjai Singh Khimsar, Dharamveer Singh Sekhawat, Ratan Singh, and Harish Chandra Singh, have openly rebelled, accusing Bihani of using political clout to marginalize them and undermine RCA's democratic processes. They allege he has neglected meetings for months and made baseless match-fixing allegations against the Rajasthan Royals during IPL 2025, prompting the franchise to lodge complaints with the Rajasthan State Sports Council (RSSC) and other authorities. The state govt's inaction has drawn scrutiny, particularly as the ad hoc committee's prolonged tenure, originally set for three months with a subsequent extension, has delayed RCA elections indefinitely. "Bihani is from the ruling party but seems to have support from a central leader, openly confronting the sports minister/government. The ad hoc was created for reasons now happening. Three months have turned into five extensions, a mockery," said a source. Bihani, however, refuted the claims. "CM sir doesn't pay attention to cricket, so to say that I am getting his support is wrong. But yes, if I had done anything wrong while running RCA, he would have reprimanded me. The only interference there is, is from the Sports Council. I will comment on this tomorrow if the ad hoc panel gets an extension," Bihani told TOI. Meanwhile, former CM Ashok Gehlot also waded into the issue, criticizing the govt's silence and alleging on X that infighting in RCA had disappointed cricket lovers and made it challenging to organize the IPL. "Elections should have been held within three months, yet it's been one and a half years," Gehlot said, adding that during his son, Vaibhav Gehlot's tenure as RCA president, the association hosted international matches and initiated projects like a world-class stadium, which are now stalled. Sources attributed the delay in RCA elections to the "entry of too many politicians' sons". Notable names include Jodhpur DCA president Dhananjai Singh Khimsar (son of health minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar), Banswara DCA president Prempratap Singh Malviya (son of BJP leader Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya), Baran DCA treasurer Pawan Dilawar (son of education minister Madan Dilawar), Churu DCA president Parakram Singh Rathore (son of former Leader of Opposition Rajendra Singh Rathore), Sikar DCA treasurer Ashish Tiwari (son of Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari), Alwar DCA president Mohit Yadav (son of former BJP minister Jaswant Yadav), and Sirohi DCA president Vikram Dewasi (son of panchayati raj, rural development and disaster management minister Otaram Dewasi). "Too many sons of politicians want to marry a single bride - RCA. So best is to avoid marriage. They don't want to do things in haste and repent later," a source said. eom
Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
Sound effect
A former associate editor with the Times of India, Jug Suraiya writes two regular columns for the print edition, Jugular Vein, which appears every Friday, and Second Opinion, which appears on Wednesdays. His blog takes a contrarian view of topical and timeless issues, political, social, economic and speculative. LESS ... MORE Thanks to a scientific phenomenon, distance reduces the noise of the news Distance is said to lend enchantment to the view, blurring the sight of warts and other eyesores. Distance also lends detachment from the news. On a visit to London I stay tuned to what's happening back home in India by following the news. There is a familiarity about the news, born out of repetition that makes the word 'news' into an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. Perhaps the people in charge of compiling dictionaries should, by deed poll if necessary, officially change the name of news to olds, because much, if not most of it, is the same old, same old. Opposition is going at govt hammer and tongs. And to return the compliment, govt is going at Opposition tongs and hammer. Operation Sindoor was/was not an unqualified success. The White House did/did not play the honest – or dishonest – broker in effecting a ceasefire between New Delhi and Islamabad. Govt, after having opposed a caste-based census all this while, is now in favour of it because it wants to consolidate the so-called Hindu vote/it wants to fragment the Dalit/OBC vote. Ding-dong, dong-ding. But there's not just a familiarity in the news, there's also a reduction in its noise level, making it sound less frenetic and frenzied the farther off it is. The scientific reason for this is called the Doppler Effect, after the Austrian physicist, Christian Doppler. The scientist described this phenomenon in 1842, whereby the frequency of sound waves changes as the source of the sound approaches or recedes from the hearer. The whistle of a train approaching a station sounds increasingly sharper and more shrill, the sound waves getting scrunched together like a squeezed accordion, and gets muted as the train passes and the wavelength becomes longer and flatter, like the wrinkles being ironed out of a shirt. Distance and flattening wavelengths take much sound out of the fury of the news, and some of the fury out of its sound For this relief much thanks, Herr Doppler. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
Citizen kaun
In the khichdi that's India, a multiplicity of documents to prove citizenship makes sound sense Nitish Kumar was the first NDA CM to talk down a national register of citizens (NRC) for Bihar back in 2019. His three magic words – 'Kahe ka NRC' (whatever for, an NRC?) – set the tone for a quiet demise of a nationwide record of citizens. Census 2027's headcount won't include a 'national population register', the parent body for an NRC, the theme itself dropped from NDA/BJP's 2024 Lok Sabha poll manifesto. Diverse & fluid | India by design does not mandate citizenship proof, and by extension has no single document as proof of citizenship. Instead, given the nation's plurality, caste networks and marriage ties, waves of refugee influx, pockets of intense poverty and patchy access to state institutions, New Delhi framed the citizenship law in terms of conditions met, not documentary evidence. An example of this fluidity is in voter rights, normally reserved for 'citizens', extended to those born in India to Tibetan refugee parents. A bunch of govt-issue IDs in various combinations can satisfy criteria to prove citizenship. Peopled borders | NRC in Assam showed the challenge it is for many to show they're Indian. Alleged 'immigrants' had legitimate documents, many locals never felt the need to have any. CAA in fact confused NRC in operation. Given India's layered multitudes of ethnic, language and religious groups, sub-nationality has been more the people's anchor. Take the Bengali in Dhaka – Indian till 1947, Pakistani till 1971, Bangladeshi then on. Primarily, Bengali. National borders are the most artificial of constructs – ask kith-kin-caste groups at the UP-Bihar-Bengal/Nepal border, villagers at Punjab/Pak border, communities in northeast-Myanmar and Bengal-Bangladesh borders. Proofs & polls | Amid drives to harden citizenship, it is its shadow, the grainy gray of 'illegal immigrants', the non-citizen, that crops up like clockwork ahead of every state election – Assam to Bengal to Jharkhand to even Maharashtra – only to curl back post polls. This hardening is newly evident in Manipur. Delimitation in 2008 was put off in Manipur after it raised doubts over 2001 census data. The deferment lapsed in 2020. Now, Meitei groups want an NRC – after two years of conflict – before delimitation, which decides electoral representation. Citizenship serves political purposes that a single documentary proof can weaponise. It is one reason why tech-interface Aadhaar went from being designed as proof of identity for welfare measures, to attempts to make it proof of citizenship, only to return as proof of identity. Nitish Kumar wouldn't allow lack of certain documents to disenfranchise the Bihari. There's no harm in rules that accept a multiplicity of documents. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
