After receiving a resounding electoral mandate, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) nominated Balendra Shah to serve as Nepal’s 47th prime minister.
The day following Shah’s election as the RSP’s parliamentary party leader, President Ram Chandra Poudel officially appointed him under Article 76(1) of the Constitution.
The 35-year-old leader, affectionately called “Balen,” symbolises a larger generational change in Nepal’s political scene and is one of the youngest prime ministers the country has ever seen. With 182 out of 275 House of Representatives seats won, the RSP achieved a near two-thirds majority in the most recent parliamentary elections.
Rituals such as Shankha Naad, Swasti Shanti recitations by Vedic priests, and Ashtamangala chants by Buddhist monks will be a part of the event when Shah is set to take oath at the President’s Office, which will combine Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
Shah initially gained notoriety in 2022, when he triumphed as an independent candidate for the position of mayor of Kathmandu. His foray into national politics gave the RSP a huge boost, and they rode that wave of support to the polls.
by one of the largest vote totals in Nepalese electoral history, Shah prevailed over former prime minister K P Sharma Oli in the parliamentary elections in Jhapa-5 by a margin of 49,614 votes.
Shah, who was born in 1990, attended Visvesvaraya Technological University and earned a degree in structural engineering. Throughout his time as mayor, his professional background in infrastructure and urban development informed his approach to governing.
We should expect policies that prioritise institutional transformation, improved infrastructure, and more efficient governance as a result of his ascension to the presidency, which heralds a new era of younger leadership and reform-oriented politics in Nepal.
