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In Brief
- Balendra Shah trained as a civil engineer but first gained national attention through Nepal’s underground hip-hop scene.
- In a political shock in 2022, he became the first independent candidate elected mayor of Kathmandu.
Nepal’s former rapper and now politician, Balendra Shah, has achieved a stunning victory in a parliamentary showdown, besting seasoned political figure KP Sharma Oli in the latter’s own electoral district. This triumph has essentially solidified Shah’s political trajectory.
Shah’s defeat of the long-standing Marxist leader is one of the most significant outcomes from Nepal’s intense parliamentary elections. These elections were conducted six months following widespread anti-corruption demonstrations that led to the downfall of the incumbent administration.
This win represents a major risk undertaken by the 35-year-old reformist, who stepped down as mayor of Kathmandu to directly challenge Oli, a 74-year-old politician who has served as prime minister four times, right in Oli’s traditional territory.
Election Commission data revealed on Sunday AEDT that Shah had secured an insurmountable lead.
Should Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) achieve a majority in parliament, as current Election Commission trends suggest, he is positioned to become the next prime minister.
Better known as Balen, the sharply dressed 35-year-old has emerged as a symbol of youth-driven political change.
Born in Kathmandu in 1990, he was a schoolboy during Nepal’s 1996-2006 Maoist civil war, which killed thousands and eventually ended the monarchy.
Shah trained as a civil engineer but first gained national attention through Nepal’s underground hip-hop scene, releasing songs that railed against corruption and inequality.
Those themes, he says, still guide his politics.
“If a person involved in politics also engages in literature or music, it becomes emotionally driven,” Shah told Agence France-Presse during his campaign for Thursday’s elections in the Himalayan nation of 30 million people.
“We also need to nurture the emotional aspect of our lives, and a politician should possess that sensitivity.”
His music, which has drawn millions of views online, helped him cultivate a devoted following on social media — a platform he continues to favour over traditional outlets for communicating with supporters.
That popularity translated into a political shock in 2022, when Shah became the first independent candidate elected mayor of Kathmandu, stunning Nepal’s entrenched political establishment.
He built a reputation as a blunt, often confrontational reformer as mayor, launching campaigns against tax evasion, traffic congestion and mismanagement.
However, his tenure also attracted criticism for heavy-handed enforcement and for bypassing journalists in favour of broadcasting directly to millions of followers online.
‘Social justice’
Shah resigned as mayor in January to run in the general elections, the first since mass protests in September overthrew Oli.
Rather than running from his Kathmandu base, Shah chose to challenge Oli directly in Jhapa-5, a largely rural constituency around 300 kilometres southeast of the capital.
He said that “contesting against a major figure” signalled that he was “not taking the easy way out” to win a seat.
“It demonstrates that, despite the problems or betrayals that have affected the country, we are moving towards addressing them,” he said.
Shah joined the centrist RSP, led by television host Rabi Lamichhane, which became parliament’s fourth-largest force in the last elections in 2022 after challenging parties that had dominated Nepal since the end of the civil war.
“We share the same ideology,” Shah said, describing a vision of “a liberal economic system with social justice”, including free education and healthcare for the poor.
Shah emerged as a central figure during the September protests, which were initially sparked by anger over a brief ban on social media platforms under a loose “Gen Z” banner.
They quickly grew into a broader movement against corruption and economic stagnation. At least 77 people were killed during the unrest.
“Gen Z’s number one demand is good governance, because there is a high level of corruption in the country,” Shah said.
He insists music will remain part of his identity, despite his political ambitions.
“Music is a medium to express oneself,” he said. “I will continue it, even if I am elected as prime minister.”
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