RAPPER-TURNED-POLITICIAN BALENDRA SHAH’S PARTY SET FOR LANDSLIDE IN NEPAL PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
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Agency Report
Nepal’s parliamentary elections are set to deliver a dramatic shift in power, with rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) poised for a landslide victory, officials said on Wednesday.
With just two per cent of votes left to count, Shah’s party has already secured 125 of 165 directly elected seats and is leading in proportional representation ballots, holding nearly half of all votes counted so far. If the final results hold, RSP is expected to claim around 176 of 275 seats in the new House of Representatives — just shy of the 183-seat supermajority.
The 35-year-old Shah, formerly mayor of Kathmandu, achieved a stunning political upset by defeating four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli in his own constituency. Shah’s rise comes in the wake of youth-led, anti-corruption protests last September that toppled the previous government.
Videos of voters mimicking Shah’s dancing during the elections have gone viral on social media, reflecting the widespread popular enthusiasm for the newcomer.
Election Commission spokesman Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said, “We are close to finishing the counting now. We will have the final number of PR seats soon.” Constitutional law expert Bipin Adhikari noted that it could take more than a week before Nepal formally swears in a new prime minister, pending the president’s approval and official submission of results.
By contrast, the Nepali Congress, the largest party in the outgoing parliament, won 18 seats, while Oli’s Marxist party secured just nine, signaling a sharp decline in support for the old guard.
Shah’s ascent marks one of the most dramatic political upsets in Nepal in recent memory, promising a new era of governance following widespread calls for accountability and reform.
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