Balendra Shah, a rapper-turned-politician and the prime ministerial candidate for Rastriya Swatantra Party.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Nepal’s youngest prime minister took the oath of office Friday after his party won a landslide victory in elections earlier this month and following a youth-led uprising that toppled the government in September.
Balendra Shah was appointed the prime minister by President Ram Chandra Paudel on Friday (March 27, 2026) after his Rastriya Swatantra Party won nearly two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, in the March 5 polls.
Mr. Shah was sworn in at 12:34 p.m., on a day when the Himalayan nation is celebrating Ram Navami, to mark the birth of Lord Rama.
Balendra Shah, a structural engineer who rose to fame as a rap artist before becoming Kathmandu’s mayor, leads the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which won about two-thirds of the 275 seats in the bicameral Parliament’s powerful lower House of Representatives.
He emerged as a prominent voice during the bloody youth-led uprising in September that toppled the government in the nation of 30 million people, a wave of unrest that left dozens dead.
Although he didn’t directly participate in the protests, Mr. Shah publicly expressed support for the largely Generation Z demonstrators who led the movement.
PM Modi congratulates Balen Shah
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Mr. Shah on being sworn in as Nepal’s new prime minister, saying that he looks forward to working closely with him to deepen India-Nepal ties for the mutual benefit of both nations.
“Warm congratulations to Mr. Balendra Shah on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal. Your appointment reflects the trust reposed in your leadership by the people of Nepal. I look forward to working closely with you to take India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights for the mutual benefit of our two peoples,” Mr. Modi said in a message on ‘X’.
Published – March 27, 2026 01:05 pm IST
