Nepal’s Rapper-Turned-Mayor Prepares to Campaign for Prime Minister Following Youth Protests

Balendra Shah, the mayor of Kathmandu, has joined a reformist party and agreed to take over as prime minister should the alliance win the March elections.

After months of youth-led protests that overthrew the previous government, rapper-turned-Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah decided to compete for prime minister in the 2018 parliamentary elections, causing a significant upheaval in Nepal’s political scene.

Ahead of the March 5 elections, two well-known individuals have forged a political coalition with the goal of taking on the more established parties that have controlled Nepali politics for over thirty years, party leaders and experts announced Monday.

On Sunday, Shah, also referred to as Balen, became a member of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, or RSP. Rabi Lamichhane, a politician and former television host, is the party’s leader. According to the deal, Lamichhane, 48, will continue to lead the party while Shah, 35, will take over as prime minister if the RSP wins the elections.

Both guys claim that the demands made at the September Gen Z rallies against pervasive corruption are what motivated their partnership. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned as a result of the protests, which claimed 77 lives.

“Bring Balen and his young supporters into the RSP’s fold is a very smart and strategic move,” analyst Bipin Adhikari stated.

He went on to say, “Traditional political parties are suffering because they are afraid of losing their young voters to RSP.”

Approximately 19 million of Nepal’s 30 million citizens are eligible to vote, according to the electoral commission. Following the protests, about a million new voters—mostly young people—were added to the voter list.

Shah became well-known throughout the upheaval and was seen by many as an unofficial youth movement leader. Later, he assisted in the formation of the interim administration that will supervise the elections and is headed by former Chief Justice Sushila Karki.

Critics, however, have questioned Shah’s involvement in the protests, claiming that he mostly spoke to followers on social media and hardly ever appeared in public.

The moderate Nepali Congress party and Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist Leninist have shared power for decades; now, Shah and his supporters are predicted to provide them with their most formidable opponent to yet.

Prior to the 2022 elections, Lamichhane founded the RSP and became well-known as a television broadcaster for his opposition to corruption. Due to accusations of misusing money that cooperatives obtained from small depositors, he is currently free on bail.

The Nepali Congress party’s spokesperson, Prakash Sharan Mahat, downplayed the alliance’s possible significance.

“I don’t believe their collaboration will cause any disruption. The traditional and seasoned parties would continue to be preferred, Mahat assured reporters.