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Published 13:21 IST, November 5th 2020

US Elections 2020: Zohran Mamdani becomes first South Asian to win a NY assembly seat

US Elections 2020: Zohran Mamdani has become the first South Asian candidate to win the New York State Assembly seat for the Democratic party

Reported by: Amir Khollam
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With Trump prematurely declaring his win in the election and Americans eagerly waiting for all the casted votes to get counted, the US Presidential Elections 2020 night was surely packed with a lot of surprises. While the trajectory for different Democratic or Republican-leaning states turned out to be as expected, there were a number of surprises under Joe Biden's kitty who is currently standing just 6 electoral votes shy from being the President with 264, as opposed to Trump's 214.

While the race for the presidency seems to be coming to a close with the anticipation of the results running sky high, there is some comfort for the Democratic Socialists in New York as Zohran Mamdani has secured a seat in New York's Assembly District. Zohran has become the first South Asian to achieve this feat. 

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New York has always been a prominently blue city through the years which was not shaken under the unearthing done by the Trump organisation through the term of his governance. Zohran is filmmaker Mira Nair's son and is now the first South Asian to win the New York assembly seat. Zohran is a Democratic Socialist and a known rapper who has stepped into politics with some vocal and clear agendas during the US Elections 2020. 

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Announcing his win at the New York State Assembly District 36, Zohran Kwame Mamdani revealed that he will be fighting to tax the rich which is a common agenda shared across the Democratic party, being synonymous with the renewed taxation system proposed by Biden and Harris during their campaign trail. Zohran expressed furthermore that his agendas include protecting the sick, housing the poor, and building a socialist New York. In conclusion, his winning tweet expressed that these tasks cannot be done on their own and will require a mass movement from the multiracial working class as well. 

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While Zohran has won the New York assembly seat in his first election itself, he has been focusing on his agenda of housing the poor for a long time. Zohran was working in New York as a housing counsellor and helped immigrants facing eviction threats. He was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and defeated Aravella Simotas by 346 votes. 

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13:21 IST, November 5th 2020