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Balen Shah just became Nepal’s next prime minister, and the country’s political establishment has been completely flipped upside down.
His Rastriya Swatantra Party crushed the election with 182 seats out of 275 in parliament, demolishing the old guard that’s been running things for decades. This isn’t just politics. This is a generational takeover.
The 35-year-old former engineer-turned-rapper defeated four-time PM Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli in his own district. Oli’s Marxist party, which used to run everything, got knocked down to just 25 seats.
The Nepali Congress limped in second with 38. Nobody expected this level of dominance.
Balen’s music became the soundtrack to revolution.
His track “Nepal Haseko” racked up over 10 million YouTube views during last year’s youth uprising that toppled Oli’s government. The song wasn’t just a banger. It was a manifesto.
While kids were protesting a social media ban that spiraled into a full-scale movement against corruption and economic collapse, Balen’s lyrics were everywhere.
His discography, including tracks like “Balidan,” “Savage,” and “Marpha Ko Madira,” had been speaking truth to power for years.
The RSP, founded in 2022 when Balen became Kathmandu’s first independent mayor, ran a machine-like campaign. Diaspora money from Nepali communities in the US fueled the operation.
According to Al Jazeera, the party won 125 seats directly and another 57 through proportional representation.
More than 40 percent of Nepal’s 30 million people are under 35. They were tired of watching septuagenarians make decisions that destroyed their future.
Balen represented something different. He came from the streets, made music about real problems, and actually did something about them as mayor.
India’s PM Narendra Modi called the results a “proud moment” for democracy in the region. Parliament hasn’t officially confirmed Balen as PM yet, but the math is undeniable.
Rapper-turned-politicians have reshaped global movements before. Shyne is the leader of the Belize United Democratic Party, Zohran Mamdani is the Mayor of New York and now we have Balen.
