KATHMANDU – Balendra Shah, Nepal’s rapper-turned-reformist mayor, scored a stunning parliamentary victory on March 7, toppling four-time prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli in his own stronghold and positioning his party for potential national power.
The 35-year-old independent, known as Balen, resigned as Kathmandu mayor to challenge the 74-year-old Marxist veteran in rural Jhapa-5, 300km southeast of the capital. Election Commission data showed Shah’s unassailable lead, capping a bold gamble amid polls triggered by September’s anti-corruption protests that ousted Oli’s government and killed 77.
If Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) clinches a majority – as trends suggest – he could become prime minister. A civil engineer by training, Shah rose via hip-hop tracks slamming corruption, amassing millions of online views and a youth following.
Elected Kathmandu’s first independent mayor in 2022, he tackled tax evasion, traffic, and mismanagement with blunt tactics, bypassing media for direct social media blasts – earning praise and criticism for heavy-handedness.
Born in 1990 amid Nepal’s Maoist civil war that ended the monarchy, Shah joined RSP, sharing its centrist push for liberal economics with social justice like free education and healthcare. “Contesting a major figure shows we’re tackling betrayals head-on,” he said.
A protest leader against corruption and a social media ban, Shah blends music and politics: “Music expresses emotion; politicians need that sensitivity,” he told media on March 5. He vows to keep rapping, even as prime minister.