Ex-rapper Balendra Shah, Nepal’s youngest prime minister

27 Mar 2026, 05:43 by Abhilasha · KalingaTV

New-Delhi: Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen,to take oath as the youngest Prime Minister of Nepal on Friday.

The newly elected members of the House of Representatives took oath at the federal parliament building. The eldest member of the House, Arjun Narasingha KC, 78, administered the oath of office.

After the completion of the oath-taking ceremony, Shah was sworn in as the Prime Minister in Sheetal Niwas (President’s House). He is likely to form a cabinet with 15–18 members.

The central committee of RSP also gave Shah the authority to form the new cabinet under his leadership. The members of the new cabinet are likely to be announced in the evening.

Earlier this month, the RSP, under the leadership of Shah, ensured a decisive victory in the Parliamentary elections by securing 182 out of 275 seats in the House of Representatives (HoR).

Of the 275 members of the HoR, 165 are elected through direct voting and 110 through proportionate voting.

Shah, popularly known as Balen, defeated four-time prime minister K P Sharma Oli in the Jhapa-5 constituency, a long-standing stronghold of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), by a huge margin.

Who is Balendra Shah

Shah was born in 1990 in Naradevi, Kathmandu, and is the youngest son of his parents. His father is an Ayurvedic practitioner, and his mother a house wife. Shah is married and lives with his wife and daughter.

After school, he earned engineering degrees in Kathmandu and later in Karnataka.

In 2013, he shot to fame after winning a popular rap battle in Nepal, with sharp verses that carried the frustration of a generation that felt suppressed and abandoned.

Shah went on to release several popular songs which criticised corruption and social inequality in the Himalayan nation.

One of his best-known hits, Balidan, has amassed 14m views on YouTube.

Ex-rapper Balendra Shah, Nepal’s youngest prime minister

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