Rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah wins landslide in Nepal election

Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old former civil engineer and hip-hop artist known as "Balen," has led his Rastriya Swatantra Party to a sweeping parliamentary majority in Nepal's election, official results confirmed Thursday.

The RSP secured 182 seats in the 275-member lower house of parliament, with 125 won directly and 57 through proportional representation. The result represents the biggest win for a single party in Nepal in decades, though the party fell two seats short of achieving a two-thirds supermajority.

The Nepali Congress finished in second place with 38 seats, while the Communist Party of Nepal UML, led by veteran four-time Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, won just 25 seats. Oli's government was ousted in a youth-led uprising last year. Voter turnout reached approximately 60 percent of the nearly 19 million eligible voters.

Shah's rise to national prominence has been unconventional. The RSP was founded only in 2022 and finished fourth in that year's election. The party's dramatic turnaround culminated in celebrations across the country. On the evening of March 7, thousands of people gathered in Damak in eastern Nepal's Jhapa district, running alongside a slowly moving vehicle as Shah stood through the sunroof, waving and greeting crowds with folded palms. Supporters chanted his name repeatedly.

Shah previously served as mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal's largest metropolis, before his emergence as a national political figure. His background as a rapper and civil engineer distinguishes him from traditional political figures in the country.

The formation of a new government is expected to take at least a week following the election results. Shah is positioned to become Nepal's next prime minister.