‘Daughter of Thiruvananthapuram’: Tharoor's shoutout to Nithya Raman, set for LA mayoral win

In a post on X, Tharoor described Raman as “a daughter of Thiruvananthapuram” and welcomed her appointment as the new Mayor of Los Angeles.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, MP from Thiruvananthapuram, on Thursday congratulated Nithya Raman on becoming the Mayor of Los Angeles, highlighting her Indian roots and saying that two of America's biggest cities would now be led by people of Indian origin.

In a post on X, Tharoor described Raman as “a daughter of Thiruvananthapuram” and welcomed her appointment as the new Mayor of Los Angeles. He also referred to Zohran Mamdani's presence in New York, saying that the two cities would be run by people of Indian origin.

“Daughter of Thiruvananthapuram”

“A daughter of Thiruvananthapuram, @nithyavraman, is the new Mayor of Los Angeles! And with @ZohranKMamdani in New York, America’s two biggest cities will be run by people of Indian origin!” Tharoor wrote.

Also read | Indian-origin Nithya Raman projected to win Los Angeles mayoral race, defeating Karen Bass

The Congress leader also compared the powers available to mayors in the United States with those given to their counterparts in India. He said he was confident that Raman and Mamdani would do a “far better job” than mayors in India, who, according to him, have limited authority to govern their cities.

“I’m sure they will do a far better job than their counterparts back in India, who are reduced to powerlessness by a British-era system that disperses authority and budgets, leaving Mayors here without any real means to govern their cities effectively,” he said.

MeanwhilIndian-origin Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman took the lead over incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in the mayoral election, according to fresh figures released by the Los Angeles Times.

As counting continued, Raman, 45, secured 51.1% of the votes, while Bass, 73, received 48.33%, the report said. However, election analysts warned that the contest was still too close to call.

The election came at a time when Los Angeles was facing several major civic challenges, with homelessness, public safety and affordable housing among the key concerns for voters.

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