Balendra Shah (C), former mayor of Kathmandu, appears poised to become Nepal’s next prime minister after his party scored a landslide victory in national elections. Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA
March 8 (UPI) — Former rapper Balendra Shah appears poised to be Nepal’s next prime minister, after his party won the general election by a landslide.
Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party, or RSP, captured 117 out of the 165 directly-voted seats in the Federal Parliament of Nepal and is currently leading in eight more contested seats. Final results, including seats appointed by proportional representation, are expected to be announced in the coming days.
Shah, 35, transitioned from a rapper to a politician in 2022, when he was elected mayor of Kathmandu.
The former musician became a figurehead of the September 2025 movement that saw young people take to the streets to protest Nepalese Prime Minister Sharma KP Oli’s law banning social media use. The protests expanded into criticism of government corruption and the country’s political system as a whole.
A government crackdown on the protests resulted in the deaths of 19 protesters, and led to public unrest resulting in 70 deaths and the resignation of Oli’s government.
Shah’s party has pledged to create 1.2 million jobs, reduce forced migration, raise the per capital income from $1,447 to $3,000 and provide social safety nets including health insurance.