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’.

Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was on Saturday (March 7, 2026) heading towards a sweeping victory in Nepal’s first general elections since the violent Gen Z protests, shattering the dominance of established political parties in the politically fragile nation.

According to the latest Election Commission data, the RSP has won 18 seats and is ahead in 99 others.

Nepal election results: RSP’s poll surge upends country’s politics, heads towards landslide victory

The election is being closely watched by India, which hopes for a stable government in the politically fragile Himalayan nation to take forward the developmental partnership between the two sides.

“We look forward to working with the new Government of Nepal to further build on the robust multifaceted ties between our two countries and peoples for mutual benefit,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said in Delhi on Thursday (March 5, 2026).

He said India has “consistently supported peace, progress and stability in Nepal and in keeping with our commitment, provided logistical supplies as per request from the Government of Nepal for these elections”.

The Nepali Congress has won four seats and is leading in 11 others, while the CPN-UML has won a seat and is leading in 11 constituencies. The Nepali Communist Party has bagged two seats and is leading in 10 constituencies. The Shram Sanskriti Party is now leading in only three seats, as opposed to six earlier.

Out of a total of 275 members of the Parliament, 165 will be elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 will be elected through a proportionate method.

In the Nepal elections, about 18.9 million voters were eligible to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives, with around 60 per cent of them turning out to vote on Thursday (March 5 2026).

Around 3,400 candidates are vying for 165 seats under direct voting, and 3,135 candidates for 110 seats through proportionate voting.

The Gen Z youth, through their two-day intensified protests on September 8 and 9 last year, ousted Prime Minister Oli, who was heading a coalition government with the backing of Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.

After Mr. Oli’s ouster, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as the caretaker PM.

The major issues raised by Gen Z are anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, generational change in political leadership, etc.