It is rare, if not unprecedented, for a local or municipal election to have global resonance. The widespread celebrations and apprehensions, sparked by New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory last week, can be explained by several factors. In the US, his brand of politics — both in style and substance — is seen as charting a new course for beleaguered Democrats after Donald Trump’s victory last year. But the outsize celebration of Mamdani isn’t just limited to the US and the Western world. His appeal on diversity, cost-of-living issues and the manner in which he conducted his campaign are being discussed across the world, including in India.AdvertisementWhat, if any, lessons can India’s opposition parties draw from his win? And what are the generalisations from a local election that should be avoided?First, political arithmetic is a necessary but not sufficient condition for success with a diverse electorate. With the election of Barack Obama, the American Left-Liberal establishment — the Democrats — thought they had crafted a demographic coalition that was all but unbeatable. This umbrella group consisted of college-educated liberals (especially women); Black, Hispanic and other minority groups; working class voters and union members, and urban liberal bastions on both coasts (NYC, San Francisco, etc).The arithmetic was sound, but the politics was missing. By trying to cater to each of these groups without an overarching theme to bind its politics, the Democratic Party lost ground. Culture war issues like trans rights, for example, alienated some among the working class and in middle America. Equivocation on Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza had a similar effect. By trying not to upset anyone, they pleased no one. Mamdani, on the other hand, has a clear socialist democratic stance and was clear on his stance on Palestine. Trump, for his part, is all clarity and cult of personality.AdvertisementIn India, too, various social groups with often contradictory interests must be appealed to. The INDIA bloc saw forward movement when it ceased to be just a group of parties representing caste-based and regional interests and spoke in almost one voice on economic issues during the general election. Since then, the coalition has faltered — the dominant partner speaks of election fraud, the others seem to be looking, unsuccessfully so far, for another big idea.A vote for Mamdani wasn’t just a vote against Andrew Cuomo or even Donald Trump. He articulated a plan to make people’s lives better, on top of building a demographic coalition. If asked, how many Indian opposition leaders can answer the following question: What do you stand for? “Constitution” is too esoteric; “against the BJP and Narendra Modi” fails to present a positive vision.Second, Mamdani did not rely on conventional “political wisdom” or take voters for granted. Questioning Israel’s actions, even being anti-Zionist, would have once made a candidate unelectable in New York. But with social media and Benjamin Netanyahu’s excesses being viewed in real time, that changed. Campaign promises like free bus rides also come from asking the people what they need before telling them what they want.Here, too, there is a lesson for Indian parties, especially formations that count specific social groups as their base. The politics of social justice and dignity continues to be relevant in a country as mired in inequality as India. Yet, the young voter of today — India is among the youngest countries in the world — may experience discrimination in different ways, and may have aspirations and expectations from politicians that weren’t an issue five years ago. As Pulapre Balakrishnan argued in our pages, while women are seen as beneficiaries in politics in Bihar and beyond, they are not heard. Matters like employment and even competitive exams are still viewed from a largely male perspective.The final lesson from Mamdani, and to an extent even Donald Trump, is that voters can often respect authenticity over pandering. A moment from the mayoral election debate earlier this year makes the point. Andrew Cuomo, former Democratic governor and Mamdani’s principal opponent, was asked whether, if forced to choose, he would go to a Knicks (basketball) game or a Mets (baseball) one. He said both.Too many of India’s political parties and leaders are afraid to speak up, fearing they will upset some bloc or another. Voters are smart enough not to be patronised. And trying to be likeable, you end up being bland.These lessons and the remarkable nature of his victory notwithstanding, it is important also to put Mamdani’s win in a more sobering perspective.First, US politics is largely bipolar and personality-driven. Mamdani’s charisma and appeal cannot and perhaps should not be replicated in an Indian context. For the Opposition in particular, playing the game of personality cults is particularly fraught. For long, the BJP has tried to frame national politics as Modi vs Rahul, or Modi vs Mamata, etc. Falling into that trap, hoping for an Obama or Mamdani-like figure on the centre-left, is a pipe dream. Rather, the focus should be on organisation, alliance-building and issues. In fact, the personality centric, and ego-driven, approach of most opposition parties — from the AAP to the TMC and DMK and beyond arguably comes in the way of genuine alliance building.most readSecond, much has been made of Mamdani’s creative, almost guerrilla social media campaign. Cuomo raised far more money than he did, yet it was the mayor-elect’s clever videos that gained traction. In politics, however, the medium is not always the message. Divisive forces can — and do — use social media to great effect to narrow rather than broaden the political conversation.Third, and perhaps most obviously, New York isn’t America and America isn’t India. Mamdani is a cosmopolitan figure because of his heritage, but he is also quintessentially a creature of the city he belongs to. A Democrat in say, Iowa, cannot run the campaign he did, not least because it was so local in many of the issues it addressed. India too needs a politics and politicians that make its growing urban population its focus. But for that, it cannot look to New York.Till next time,Aakash Joshi****C Raja Mohan, “A tale of two populisms”, November 5*Suhas Palshikar, “PK’s holier-than-thou politics has a challenge — and an opportunity”, November 8*Sajjid Z Chinoy, “AI mania masks economic fissures and rising uncertainty”, November 8*Pratap Bhanu Mehta, “Allahabad Municipal Board to New York City Hall, Nehru’s arc”, November 7*Pulapre Balakrishnan, “In bihar, everyone is taking about women but few give them a voice”, November 6