Nepal’s new Prime Minister, Balendra Shah, is scheduled to be sworn in on Friday (the 27th), becoming the youngest prime minister in the country’s history. Before his inauguration, Shah released a song expressing optimism for the future of Nepal, singing: “United Nepalis, history is being made.”
At just 35 years old, Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah—who started out as a rapper—joined the National Independent Party (RSP) in December 2025 and formed an alliance with the party’s leader, Rabi Lamichhane, a former TV host. The alliance won the Nepalese elections in March 2026, allowing Balendra Shah to become Prime Minister, with Lamichhane remaining party leader.
This victory came on the heels of Balendra (also known as Balen) successfully transforming from a rapper into a political reformer.
Balendra was born in April 1990 in the capital Kathmandu, to a doctor father and a homemaker mother. He completed his undergraduate degree in civil engineering in Nepal and later earned a master’s degree in structural engineering from Vivekananda Institute of Technology in India.
According to reports, Balendra developed an early interest in poetry, which later evolved into a passion for hip-hop. Since 2012, he has been active in Nepal’s underground rap scene. His lyrics, tackling issues like poverty, unemployment, and corruption, struck a chord with young listeners. His most popular song “Sacrifice,” released in 2019, has been watched over 12 million times on a single social platform.
In 2022, Balen ran for mayor of Kathmandu as an independent candidate with the slogan “Time for Change,” strongly criticizing the traditional political elite. Leveraging his reputation as a rapper and his social media influence, he was elected by an absolute majority, becoming the city’s first nonpartisan mayor and garnering national attention.
Unlike other traditional Nepalese politicians, Balendra primarily interacts directly with his supporters through social media, with 3.78 million followers on his Facebook account. In recent campaign photos, he is often seen wearing his trademark dark sunglasses and a beard, traveling between constituencies, and is especially popular among young voters.
In the 5th constituency of Jhapa—long dominated by former Prime Minister Oli—Balendra won by a landslide, with 68,348 votes to Oli’s 18,734. Oli conceded defeat and offered his “heartfelt congratulations” to Balendra, wishing him an “uninterrupted five-year term.”
During his tenure as mayor of Kathmandu, Balendra implemented a series of strong reforms: demolishing illegal buildings, addressing garbage accumulation, and regulating traffic order. Though these measures improved the city’s appearance, they also sparked significant controversy. His tough crackdown on street vendors and unlicensed businesses, labeled as “heavy-handed law enforcement,” was criticized by some citizens for lacking humanity and directly impacting the livelihoods of the lower class.
Nepali political analyst Lok Raj Baral commented, “The public has extremely high expectations for Balen, but the bureaucracy remains old and stale. Merely changing the leadership makes realizing these goals extremely difficult in Nepal.” He emphasized that Balendra faces severe challenges, including meeting the high expectations of his young supporters and investigating and prosecuting previous leaders for corruption: “From the moment he assumes the post of Prime Minister, challenges will follow him at every step.”