Nepal’s political landscape has witnessed a dramatic transformation, as newly elected youth leader Balendra “Balen” Shah unseated veteran politician and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli from his parliamentary stronghold. A structural engineer by profession who first rose to prominence as the mayor of Kathmandu, Shah has now made history four years later by becoming the youngest person ever to claim Nepal’s Prime Ministership.
Contesting from Jhapa-5, the former rapper and capital city mayor defeated his long-time rival Oli by a resounding margin, the Election Commission of Nepal announced. Shah, a senior leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), secured 68,348 votes—nearly four times more than the 18,734 votes garnered by the 74-year-old Marxist leader.
