Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has taken to social media to commend a rare display of political unity in the United States, pointing to a recent meeting between Republican President Donald Trump and New York City’s incoming Democratic Socialist Mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
The Friday meeting at the White House was described by both US and international media as unexpectedly cordial and “laced with bonhomie,” despite months of intense rhetorical clashes during the mayoral election.
Tharoor’s Message to India’s Democracy
Responding to a viral clip from the Oval Office, Tharoor expressed his admiration for the political maturity shown, suggesting it holds a valuable lesson for Indian democracy.
“This is how democracy should work,” Tharoor wrote on social media. “Fight passionately for your point of view in elections, with no rhetorical holds barred. But once it’s over, & the people have spoken, learn to cooperate with each other in the common interests of the nation you are both pledged to serve.”
The Congress MP added that he would “love to see more of this in India” and was actively working to achieve a similar cooperative equation within the country’s political landscape.
The Unlikely US Alliance
The meeting was significant due to the extreme ideological differences and the highly combative history between the two leaders.
During the mayoral campaign, Trump had branded Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor-elect, as a “communist lunatic” and threatened to withhold federal funds from New York if he won. Mamdani, in turn, had framed himself as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”
However, the face-to-face meeting saw both men set aside their political differences to focus on shared populist concerns for New York, including housing affordability, crime reduction, and rising utility costs. Trump was seen praising Mamdani, calling him a “very rational person,” while Mamdani focused on the need to work with the President to secure necessary federal resources for the city.
The display of civility and the pledge to cooperate on shared governance goals is what resonated with Tharoor, who often advocates for enhanced political discourse and cooperation in India.