Rapper, engineer, outsider: How Balen Shah became Nepal’s PM

Following the political churn that led to the resignation of K. P. Sharma Oli in 2025, the 35-year-old Balen Shah is now set to lead Nepal.

Transcript

00:02This rapper is set to be the new Prime Minister of Nepal.

00:05Meet Balendra Shah.

00:06A graduate of an Indian engineering college, the former mayor of Kathmandu,

00:09and a Maddesi who also speaks Bihar's metli.

00:13He is your brother.

00:14He is your brother.

00:16He is also not a Brahmin or a Chhatriya from the traditional hill communities of the Himalayan country.

00:23He was a man who did work.

00:26The 35-year-old's victory signaled a clear shift in Nepal's politics.

00:29Long dominated by ageing leaders.

00:32Riding a wave of Gen Z protests that overthrew the Oli government,

00:35he became the face of a new, younger Nepal.

00:40According to Nepali media, Balun's parents migrated from Nepal's Maddes province in the Tarai Belt,

00:45a region that shares deep linguistic and cultural ties with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh

00:49across the open India-Nepal border.

00:51But this is not Balun's only connection to India.

00:53He earned his M.Tech Instructional Engineering from Vishwaswaraya Technological University in Belgawe, Karnataka.

00:58His interest in politics was visible long before he entered public office.

01:03Listen to a few of his songs and you'll get it.

01:08In his hit Balidaan, he rapped all leaders are thieves rooting the country and eating it up.

01:1212 million views and thousands of people resonating his views in the comments.

01:16In 2022, he ran as an independent for Kathmandu mayor and won.

01:20No party machine, just black blazer, square sunglasses, clean fade and rap songs that hit the right political notes.

01:26As mayor, he prioritized fixing the city's poor waste management, road traffic congestion and

01:31encroachments on public land and better pathways.

01:33He proved he could do it.

01:35When Gen-Z protest forced PM K.P. Sharma only to resign in 2025, Balin said,

01:40Dear Gen-Z, be prepared.

01:41The people did prepare and made their choice.

01:44What game I?

01:45Yeah!

01:48Balin is set to lead the 30 million people of Nepal now.

01:51I'm Manish Adhikari.

01:53First things fast.