A rapper-turned politician, Rt. hon´ble Balendra Shah, 36, who is popularly known as Balen, has achieved what people have dreamt of in their lifetime.
Born in Kathmandu, Balen later became a rapper and studied structural engineering. In March 2022, the fate of Balen was changed after winning the election as the mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, the country’s administrative hub, in the same year, as an independent candidate, his popularity surged both inside and outside the country.
At the age of 32, he became Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, thrashing the heavyweight candidates from the two old parties—Srijana Singh from Nepali Congress and Keshav Sthapit CPN-UML—gaining popularity all around the world, specially within Nepal people and the Nepali diaspora. Interestingly, after four years of being mayor, on 27 March 2026, Balen was appointed the prime minister of Nepal.
“We were only a few people during his Mayor campaign in 2022. Although there were rumours that the independent candidate would not win the election, he was devoted to his target and achieved it through his hard work,” said Madhu Sudan Dhakal, who is a close member of Balen. Dhakal is also the central committee member of the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s (RSP) from Balen’s quota. He further added, “Balen is an extraordinary person I have met in my life. I am confident that he will deliver what people and we have expected in the country.”
In January, before the 5 March, 2026 election, Mayor Balen resigned from his post and joined the four-year-old RSP, which was established by journalist-turned-politician Rabi Lamichanne in 2022, to conduct alternative politics in Nepal.
The popularity of Balen and RSP and frustration from old parties in the country gave almost two-thirds majority in 275 House of Representatives seats. RSP won 182 seats, only short of two seats to get two third majority in the house, overthrowing the older bigger parties such as Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Nepali Communist Party as well as other regional and smaller parties.
The RSP had presented Balen as the new Prime Minister of Nepal, and he is the youngest Prime Minister of Nepal in Nepal’s modern history after 1950. Balen became Prime Minister of Nepal within four years of joining Nepali politics.
Balen had been popular since he became mayor in 2022, and now as the Prime Minister of Nepal, his popularity is also reflected in foreign media that have portrayed him as the ‘special one’ in Nepali politics.
The new government led by Shah now has a great responsibility to address those challenges that have persisted. He needs to manage internal, bilateral, regional and global issues in the current context, which will be extremely challenging. He also has the task of eliminating corruption, digitalizing the public services, strengthening governance, creating jobs and more.
Earlier, Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki publicly said, “I have full confidence in Balen. He will do something.” Kariki has been advocating for Balen since he was the mayor.
After the Gen Z uprising, the young people requested Balen to be the Prime Minister of the country. Instead of him, Balen recommended Karki for that post.
Prime Minister Shah enjoys wearing black clothes and glasses with his moustache and beard. That has been his signature style since he started his political campaign during the mayoral campaign. People in Nepal, especially the young generation, loved Prime Minister Balen’s looks and his style. People have given a full mandate to Balen and his party, and they are hopeful that Balen will now deliver as the Prime Minister of Nepal
