Saikat Chakrabarti: Another Indian-Origin Democrat In Spotlight After Mamdani's Win

Last Updated:November 09, 2025, 16:56 IST

After Zohran Mamdani's New York win, Saikat Chakrabarti, inspired by Mamdani, is running for Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco Congress seat, aiming to transform the Democratic party.

Saikat Chakrabarti (X)

Week after Zohran Mamdani’s historic New York mayoral election win, another Indian-origin is eyeing a milestone moment in US politics. After Nancy Pelosi announced her unwillingness to contest in Congress from San Francisco, Saikat Chakrabarti’s will now be running for the same seat.

Recently, Nancy Pelosi, in a video address, said: “I will not be seeking re-election to Congress. My message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power. We have made history and progress, and we must continue to lead the way." She had held the post in Congress since 1987.

After Mandani’s win last week, Chakrabarti in a post on X explained how this win was inspirational.

“Zohran proved it doesn’t matter how much money they throw at you. Organised people beat organised money if you stand for real change," the Harvard-educated Chakrabarti tweeted.

According to NDTV, several have compared Chakrabarti to Mamdani, particularly due to their similar campaign styles focusing heavily on social media.

“This is really the chance we have for a movement that really stands for working people," Chakrabarti said when he launched his campaign in April against Pelosi.

According to India Today, unlike conservative Democrats, long seen as cautious on taxing the rich, Chakrabarti is an advocate of bold proposals like a wealth tax, even if it means “taxing myself". He emphasised that his goal is to “completely change the brand of the Democratic party".

Who is Saikat Chakrabarti?

Born to Bengali immigrant parents in Texas, Saikat Chakrabarti earned a degree in computer science at Harvard University. He later moved to San Francisco and co-founded a tech start-up. He later joined Stripe, a financial services company.

In 2015, Saikat Chakrabarti left the tech industry to work on Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign. While Sanders failed to win, Chakrabarti impressed the Democrat after he built digital tools to reach out to grassroots volunteers, India Today reported.

Two years later, he co-founded Justice Democrats, a political group to help younger and new candidates run for Congress against long-time incumbents.

In 2018, Chakrabarti successfully led the campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat all odds to win the New York seat in the US House of Representatives. He was made her chief of staff.

In 2019, he faced controversy when he wore a T-shirt featuring freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose. While it was a cultural pride for him, some right-wing media outlets called him out for supporting someone who “collaborated with the Nazis".

News world Saikat Chakrabarti: Another Indian-Origin Democrat In Spotlight After Mamdani's Win

Read More