A social media post of Zohran Mamdani, who would be New York City’s first Indian-origin and Muslim mayor if he wins the November mayoral election, is going viral on social media.In December 2020, Mamdani, son of acclaimed Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Indian-origin Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani, had retweeted a post originally put up Communist Party of India (Marxist) Puducherry unit, which congratulated party member Arya Rajendra upon her election as the mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.“them: so what kind of mayor does nyc need right know? me:” Mamdani, the Democratic Party nominee for New York City mayor wrote, quote-tweeting CPI(M) Puducherry.Who is Arya Rajendran?Born in January 1999, the Kerala native was only 21 when became Thiruvananthapuram mayor, a post she still holds. This made her the youngest person to hold such an office in India.Among people whose record she broke was BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, the current chief minister of Maharashtra. Fadnavis was only 26 when he became mayor of his home city, Nagpur. Rajendran also broke the record of Sabitha Begum, who was only 23 when she became mayor of Kollam (also in Kerala) in 2000. Begum, too, is a CPI(M) member.In September 2023, a photo of Rajendran in which she is seen holding her baby while at work, gained widespread attention.In April 2024, she allegedly blocked a state transport corporation bus for not giving way to her car. A police case was registered against the bus driver.
