A new investigation has revealed that a Pakistani political party allegedly played a big hand in electing New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
According to the New York Post, the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party (HKP), left-wing political organization, allegedly played an indirect role in supporting the campaign through activist networks and advocacy groups in the United States.
The report highlights the role of Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), a New York–based immigrant rights organization, and its political arm DRUM Beats, which spearheaded voter outreach among Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities in Queens and other boroughs.
DRUM claimed to have mobilized over 150,000 South Asian and Indo-Caribbean voters, a turnout described as “unprecedented” by campaign observers.
Investigators found that several individuals coordinating the outreach had prior links to the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party, suggesting ideological overlap between local mobilizers and international leftist movements. The report estimates that DRUM’s voter drive alone boosted Mamdani’s support by more than 10%, a margin that proved decisive in his ranked-choice win over former governor Andrew Cuomo.
The New York Post further reported that Mamdani’s digital presence grew dramatically during the campaign. Between June 1 and July 1, his Instagram following jumped from about 213,000 to nearly 3 million, while TikTok engagement soared by over 1,000%.
Data reviewed by the publication showed that much of this engagement came from South Asian audiences, particularly in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.
Source: New York Post