New York, NY — November 5, 2025: In a stunning political upset, Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City on Tuesday night, defeating both establishment Democrats and a well-funded Republican opposition. His win marks a milestone not just for progressives, but also for the city’s growing South Asian and Indo-Caribbean working-class communities—who played a decisive role in the campaign’s grassroots surge.
At the center of that effort was DRUM Beats NYC, a political arm of Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM), which mobilized thousands of immigrant voters across Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. According to the organization, its members knocked on over 18,000 doors, made 50,000 phone calls, and reached nearly 700,000 New Yorkers in neighborhoods such as Jackson Heights, Kensington, Richmond Hill, and Ozone Park.
“Having endorsed Zohran from the start, we reached hundreds of thousands of South Asian and Indo-Caribbean New Yorkers who turned out in record numbers,” said Jagpreet Singh, political director at DRUM Beats. “This campaign resonated with working-class and immigrant voters who have never been spoken to by the political establishment.”
Mamdani, a democratic socialist and former state assembly member from Queens, built his campaign on a platform focused on housing affordability, public transit, workers’ rights, and immigrant justice. Early in the race, he polled at just one percent. But by election day, energized by a network of community-based groups like DRUM Beats, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, and New York Communities for Change, his campaign had become a movement.
### A Campaign Rooted in Community
DRUM Beats and its allies organized through masjids, mandirs, churches, and community centers, reaching people where traditional campaigns rarely go. Outreach was conducted in Punjabi, Urdu, Bangla, Nepali, Hindi, and Creolese, part of an ambitious multilingual media push that reached an estimated 1.4 million residents.
“Our members are taxi drivers, delivery workers, domestic workers, and street vendors—people who make this city run,” Singh said. “We brought Zohran’s message of affordability and dignity directly to our neighbors.”
For many in the city’s immigrant communities, Mamdani’s campaign represented an alternative to both the Democratic Party establishment and the rhetoric of the far right.
“We are some of the poorest members of the working class,” the organization said in a statement. “Both major parties have ignored us. This was our chance to build something that truly represents us.”
### From the Margins to the Mayor’s Office
Mamdani’s victory speech Tuesday night echoed those sentiments. Standing before a jubilant crowd in Jackson Heights, he thanked “the people who believed a mayor could come from the movement, not the machine.”
Political analysts say the coalition that propelled Mamdani to victory could reshape New York City politics for years to come.
“What we’re seeing is the maturation of a working-class, immigrant-led left,” said Dr. Ayesha Rahman, a political science professor at CUNY. “This is not just a win for one candidate—it’s a proof of concept for a new kind of citywide politics.”
As the celebrations continue, DRUM Beats says the work is far from over.
“We will continue organizing to hold Zohran accountable,” Singh said. “Winning the election was the first step. Now we have to build the city we promised.”
https://newsindiatimes.com/south-asian-and-indo-caribbean-organizers-drive-mamdanis-historic-nyc-win/
