- Shah’s popularity fueled by social media and youth connection.
- The RSP party’s manifesto promises job creation and economic growth.
- The final results covering 165 seats will be decided by direct vote in a few days.
After Nepal’s historic youth-led uprising last September killed 77 people and forced then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician posted a typically terse message to millions of followers on social media.
“Dear Generation Z, the resignation of your killer has arrived,” wrote Balendra Shah, popularly known only as Balen. “Now your generation will have to lead the country. Be ready.”
Five months later, the musician who entered politics in 2022 when he became mayor of the capital, Kathmandu, is set to become Nepal’s next prime minister following the country’s first elections since the September uprising.
Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was leading with around 100 seats, well ahead of its main rivals, early trends from the electoral commission’s count showed on Friday.
Final results, covering 165 seats decided by direct vote and 110 by proportional representation, are expected within days.
The Nepali Congress, currently in second place, has already admitted defeat, and analysts said the RSP’s dominant showing means it will likely form the next government.
“Balen Shah is so popular that now buses arriving in Kathmandu have stickers that say, ‘Headed to Balen City,'” said Bipin Adhikari, a constitutional law expert who teaches at Kathmandu University.
If Shah manages to seize power, it would cap a dramatic rise for a man who entered the public spotlight with rap music critical of the establishment and parlayed his popularity into high political office.
It could also reshape the politics of Nepal, a small Himalayan nation wedged between China and India, which has long been dominated by a handful of established parties.
“It’s not a piece of cake”
Part of Shah’s national appeal stems from the work he has done as mayor of Kathmandu, where he focused on improving urban infrastructure, such as waste management, and ensuring the delivery of services such as healthcare.
It has also faced criticism, including from Human Rights Watch, for allegedly using police to confiscate the properties of street vendors and landless people.
Shah, who resigned as mayor in January to run in the general election, did not respond to interview requests or questions from Reuters sent by email.
Unlike much of Nepal’s political elite, made up of veterans of previous generations, Shah has grown accustomed to largely avoiding the mainstream press.
Rather, it is his prolific social media presence, with over 3.5 million followers on platforms like Facebook, that allows him to connect directly with Nepali youth.
“What makes Balen special is that he stays connected with the youth through his short messages on social media, but it would not be a piece of cake for him after becoming prime minister,” said independent political analyst Puranjan Acharya.
‘Let me talk’
Born to a father who practiced traditional Ayurvedic medicine and a stay-at-home mother, Shah showed an early inclination toward poetry that evolved into a love of rap music, influenced by American artists such as Tupac Shakur and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, according to an aide.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in Nepal, Shah studied a master’s degree in structural engineering in southern India, by which time he had already become a rap star in his home country.
His songs, which often address Nepal’s ruling class, struck a chord with many in a country where around 20% of the 30 million people live in extreme poverty.
Released in 2019, one of Shah’s best-known songs, “Balidan,” or sacrifice in the Nepali language, has more than 12 million views on YouTube.
Its lyrics say:
“Let me speak, sir, it is not a crime,
Let me open your mind, I am not a curse to the palace,
“My mind is not bad, it is not afraid to tell the truth.”
‘Wood attacked by termites’
Last December, Shah joined the RSP, led by former TV presenter turned politician Rabi Lamichhane, as its prime ministerial candidate.
In its manifesto, Shah’s RSP has promised to create 1.2 million jobs and reduce forced migration, in an effort to tap into frustration over unemployment and low wages that have pushed millions of Nepalis to seek work abroad.
The party has also pledged to raise Nepal’s per capita income from $1,447 to $3,000, more than doubling the country’s economy to $100 billion GDP, and providing safety nets such as health insurance for the entire population, all within five years.
Nationally, analysts predict that, if elected, much of Shah’s success will depend on the talent he surrounds himself with to reform a moribund administrative system riven by corruption.
“You need a team, experts and support,” Acharya said. “Under the existing state apparatus, it cannot act and will end up like wood attacked by termites.”
