The world saw a historic uprising in Nepal recently, that overthrew PM K.P Sharma Oli, resulting in 77 deaths, and at the same time another leader rose. This time it wasn’t a traditional politician, but a rapper turned politician who used terse messages on social media to reach masses. Balendra Shah popularly known as Balen writes messages like, “Dear Gen Z, the resignation of your killer has come, now your generation will have to lead the country. Be prepared.” The same rapper-turned politician is dominating the race for Prime Minister of Nepal. General elections in Nepal are scheduled for March 5.

Public opinion on Balen Shah

Although there are no polls to support this, when The CSR Journal team was in Nepal a month ago, people’s opinion clearly favored Balen as the next PM, anticipating a start of new era that pushes aside traditional politics in Nepal.

One Security person at Pashupati Nath temple in Kathmandu said, “Balen Shah will be the next PM, no one can stop him. We are eagerly waiting for his win. Balen would change the situation in Nepal. As you can see Bagmati River is so dirty, no politician paid attention, but Balen has already committed to cleaning the river immediately after winning.” When asked why he was so certain that Balen would win, he said Balen is the only one who could move the power with his rap and his popularity is unmatched.

Balen’s party is called Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). In the election manifesto, he said he would maintain balanced foreign relations with all neighbours.

Why is Balen Shah so popular?

Not just his rapping skills, but when he was the mayor of Kathmandu, he worked for the people of Nepal. He made significant developments in urban infrastructure, waste management, and even he focused on healthcare delivery services.

But, as it is said, good work brings criticism. Balen has Balen faced criticism from Human Rights Watch for using police force to seize the properties of street vendors. In January Balen resigned as the mayor of Kathmandu so that he could contest the upcoming election. With over 3.5 million followers on social media platforms, Balen can connect directly with the masses and youngsters in Nepal.

Currently, Shah’s social media has posts of him busy on the campaign trail, the 35-year-old is mostly seen wearing dark sunglasses and sporting a salt-and-pepper beard.

Who is Balen Shah?

The 35-year-old Balen was born into a family where his father practiced Ayurvedic medicine and his mother was a homemaker. Balen started rapping at a very young age, he was mostly influenced by American artists confirmed some locals who have known him since childhood. He has a degree in civil engineering and he pursued his master’s degree in structural engineering from South India. Balan’s raps always spoke about the ruling class and thus became very popular as 20 percent of Nepal’s population lives below the poverty line. Balan’s most popular rap, released in 2019, was titled “Balidan”; which means sacrifice. The rap’s lyrics closely associated with middle- and lower-income people.