At the center of Tompkins Square Park in New York City’s East Village stands a towering elm tree — one that has a name of its own and embodies a slice of history. Called the Hare Krishna tree, it was named after a Hindu religious leader. With his followers, he recited the eponymous chant beneath the tree’s stately branches nearly six decades ago.
On Saturday morning, Rita Soni stood under the same tree and recited another popular Hindu hymn, the Hanuman Chalisa. The 56-year-old Hindu Indian-American based in Brooklyn joined a crowd of nearly 50 people who had gathered that day as part of the Hindus for Zohran group.
Since May, Hindus for Zohran has mobilized for Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old state assemblymember who went from little-heard-of longshot to electric frontrunner in his bid to become the next mayor of New York City. They had also united to fight back against the competition: Hindu right-wing groups and the Cuomo campaign have been labeling Mamdani as a politician Hindus should fear.
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In the lead up to election day, Soni, together with a large number of Hindu New Yorkers, has paid close attention to allegations made against Mamdani calling him “Hinduphobic” and “anti-Hindu.” Though she disagrees with those claims entirely, she knows there are people who are very likely buying into them.
Those attacks against Mamdani are what motivated Soni to join the Hindus for Zohran group, she told Documented.
While canvassing for Mamdani in Queens, Soni encountered several Hindu families and voters. When they said they were undecided about voting for the Democratic candidate, Soni took it upon herself to bring up the claims being leveled against Mamdani. “By the way,” she would say, “I think there is a lot of misinformation…I don’t know if you’ve heard anything about Zohran’s view of Hinduism…”
In an election in which New York’s South Asian diaspora has heavily backed Mamdani, the internal frictions within the city’s Hindu American immigrant community have remained especially fraught — and that undecidedness has also been seen as a political opportunity. It has led to both Cuomo and Mamdani’s campaigns and their supporters to address the issue and the community directly.
On the eve of Election Day, Hindus For Zohran released a series of testimonials on social media from Hindu New Yorkers who voiced support for the Democratic nominee.
In contrast, in June, the group Indian Americans for Cuomo flew an aerial banner across the skies of New York City, accompanied by a press release referring to Mamdani as a politician who promotes division and alienates Hindu New Yorkers.
And in the final mayoral election debate, held on Oct. 22, Cuomo himself said that Mamdani had been “a divisive force in New York” for the Hindus. Incumbent mayor Eric Adams, who has endorsed Cuomo, has also shared posts calling Mamdani “anti-Hindu.”
At a jewelry shop in Jackson Heights named after the Hindu god Krishna, the owner Virender Kanwar, 65, told Documented he is in several group chats with Hindus that suggest Mamdani is biased against their community.
“If something like this is being said, there’s no fire without smoke, right?”
Ultimately, Kanwar said he would vote for Cuomo, citing the former governor’s experience.
Mamdani has been labeled as anti-Hindu in part due to his criticism of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist ruling party routinely engages in anti-Muslim politics and policies.
Soni countered that criticizing Modi is no reason to call someone Hinduphobic. “If that were the case, then millions of Indians in India would be considered Hinduphobic,” she said.
Soni also maintains that the claims of Mamdani being anti-Hindu have been fueled by misinformation. “There was a photograph taken [of Mamdani] outside of a temple,” she said. “And then some right-wing group had grabbed that photograph and said, ‘Look, this guy’s so inconsiderate that he’s wearing shoes inside the temple’.” Soni went on to explain that the claim was later refuted by organizers who shared photos showing Mamdani had in fact taken his shoes off before entering the temple.
Also Read: Will Zohran Mamdani’s South Asian Support Hold?
Sunita Viswanath, a founding member of Hindus For Zohran, told Documented that the group’s efforts aimed to help counter the hate and bigotry being directed at Mamdani. “We are seeing enormous amounts of hate and threats towards Zohran and his campaign,” she said. “Much of it Islamophobic, and sadly a lot of it coming from fellow Hindus.”
On Saturday afternoon, hours after the Hindus For Zohran event in front of the Hare Krishna Tree, Mamdani and Ro Khanna, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives from California, headlined a rally in Jamaica, Queens.
“If you had asked me when I was growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that there would be an Indian-American of Hindu faith representing Silicon Valley introducing an African-born Indian of Muslim faith who would be the next mayor of New York…I would have told you, ‘Only in a Mira Nair film!’” Khanna said, as the crowd broke out into laughter. “But it’s happening.”
After the rally, Khanna spoke to Documented about the claims calling Mamdani Hinduphobic. “They’re disgraceful attacks,” he said. “They’re a betrayal, actually, of an understanding of Hinduism, which supports pluralism at its essence.”
He added, “The way to overcome the ugliness of the Islamophobia and these attacks is to offer a hopeful vision for the future. And that’s what Zohran’s campaign has done — he’s showing that you can build a multiracial, multi-religious coalition that will inspire people.”
Mamdani’s supporters have also pointed to his mother’s religious background to counter the anti-Hindu claims made against him. Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair, the renowned Indian-American filmmaker, had joined the event on Saturday. Moments before Soni began reciting the Hanuman Chalisa at Tompkins Square Park, Nair herself shared a memory with the crowd about her son, from long before he was running to be mayor.
“He played (the Hindu god) Ram in his nursery school,” she said.
From a surge in Islamophobic attacks targeting Mamdani, to him being called antisemitic over his criticism of Israel, and anti-Hindu too — the role of faith, specifically Mamdani’s, has been a constant theme in this mayoral election.
Speaking at the rally in Jamaica, Mamdani addressed the issue succinctly. “This is a campaign that believes in the dignity of each and every New Yorker,” he said. “No matter what part of this city you call home, no matter what your religion is.”
Correction November 4, 2025: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly spelled Sunita Viswanath’s name. We apologize for the error.
