Ex-rapper Balendra Shah set to lead Nepal’s government after landslide election victory
Former rapper and Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah is set to become Nepal’s next leader after his party secured a sweeping victory in the country’s latest parliamentary elections, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Official results show that the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by the 35-year-old politician widely known as “Balen,” won 182 seats in Nepal’s 275-member lower house of parliament. According to the Election Commission of Nepal, 125 of those seats were secured through direct constituency voting and another 57 through proportional representation.
The outcome places Balendra Shah on track to form the next government, though the party fell just two seats short of the two-thirds majority needed for a constitutional supermajority. The main opposition Nepali Congress finished a distant second with 38 seats, while the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) led by veteran politician Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli secured 25.
Shah’s rise from independent mayor of Kathmandu in 2022 to potential prime minister has been widely viewed as a sign of a generational shift in a country where more than 40% of the population is under 35. Analysts say the election outcome reflects growing demand for political change, particularly among younger voters concerned about unemployment, economic stagnation and inequality.
As Qazinform reported earlier, his story reflects an unusual political journey. A former civil engineer and hip-hop artist whose music often criticized corruption and inequality, Shah gained national attention during last year’s youth-led protests that forced the resignation of the previous government.