Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam sparked outrage after reacting to Zohran Mamdani’s historic win as New York City’s first Muslim mayor, declaring, “We will not allow any Khan to become mayor,” and calling it a case of “vote jihad.”
Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has been elected mayor of New York City after defeating independent candidate and former governor Andrew Cuomo, becoming the city’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor.
Mamdani has previously called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “war criminal” and compared him to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing Modi’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat genocide.
Ameet Satam, who is also Andheri West MLA posted on social media that, “Just as the color of some international cities is changing, after seeing the surnames of some mayors and witnessing the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s vote jihad, it seems necessary to stay cautious in the context of Mumbai..!”
Satam declared, “If someone tries to impose a ‘Khan’ on Mumbai, it will not be tolerated,” urging, “Wake up, Mumbaikars!”
Responding sharply, NCP national spokesperson Anish Gawande retorted, “Amit ji, the colour of international cities isn’t changing, your colour changed the day you took over the Mumbai BJP presidency.”
“Don’t forget that in Shivaji’s army, which defeated Afzal Khan, there were Siddi Ibrahim Khan and Daulat Khan. Keep your politics of hatred out of Mumbai. If anyone tries to impose any ‘Nathuram’ on Tukaram’s Maharashtra, it will not be tolerated,” he said.
Maharashtra Congress leader Sachin Sawant hit out at the BJP, saying Mumbai today is facing “massive problems, people aren’t living, they’re just surviving.”
He described how “some die after falling into gutters, others from trains,” while women still lack toilets, garbage piles up, and diseases like malaria and dengue return every year.
“There’s corruption everywhere, gutters without covers, toilets without doors,” he said, adding that every monsoon the city drowns and “traffic has brought Mumbai to a standstill.”
Sawant accused the BJP of trying to divert attention from its failures, stating, “BJP leaders can’t answer for the sins they’ve committed over the years, so, just like every election, they want to paint this one with Hindu-Muslim colors.”
Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sawant remarked, “Modi once said, ‘The day I divide Hindus and Muslims, I won’t be fit for public life.’ If he himself doesn’t believe in that statement, why should the president of BJP Mumbai?”
He urged voters to see through the divisive politics, saying, “If Mumbai truly wants to become an international-class city, it must stay alert to these BJP vote thieves.” Mumbaikars, he said, “have no interest in surnames, they want their lives to improve now. This time, they will clean up the filth that spreads BJP’s hatred.”
Similarly, in September, during a BJP event attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Piyush Goyal, Satam declared, “The battle is to keep Mumbai safe. International countries are being infiltrated, and their colours are changing. Look at the surnames of mayors of some cities. Do we want that pattern in Mumbai?”
He went on to warn against a “Haroon Khan” being elected in every ward or a “Khan” becoming mayor, suggesting that areas like Versova-Malvani, with sizeable Muslim populations, could “spread this influence,” and cautioned that “tomorrow, a Bangladeshi could be on the doorstep of Mumbaikars.”
Mamdani faced a sustained and vicious wave of Islamophobic attacks from the moment he announced his mayoral candidacy in early 2025, continuing through the primaries, general election, and even after his victory.
For instance, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo repeatedly referred to him as “Hamas Zohran” in debates and campaign ads, accusing him of planning to “turn City Hall into a mosque,” while Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Radical Muslim Zohran wants to impose SHARIA LAW on NYC. We cannot let Manhattan become Mecca!”
Soon after Mamdani, the youngest mayor in a century, won the election, Islamophobic posts flooded social media, with right-wing accounts portraying his victory as a “takeover” by Muslims, socialists, or “jihad,” and warning of sharia law and the city becoming unsafe.
However, Mamdani had embraced his identity with pride.
“I am young, despite my best efforts to grow older. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologise for any of this,” he said in his victory speech.
The post Mumbai BJP chief’s Islamophobic speech: “No Khan will become mayor” remark after Mamdani’s victory draws outrage appeared first on Maktoob media.
