Rapper Balendra Shah defeated the former Nepalese Prime Minister Sharma KP Oli in the country’s general election.
Nepal’s Election Commission confirmed on Saturday that Shah, 35, received 68,348 votes compared to Oli’s 18,734 to unseat the former leader in his parliamentary constituency.
Thursday’s general election – the first since violent youth-led protests toppled the government in September – pitted the establishment against a new generation of politicians advocating for angry, young Gen Z voters hungry for change.
Shah, who resigned as Kathmandu’s mayor in January to take Oli on in his constituency, is set to become Nepal’s prime minister after his RSP party won the general election.
For more than two decades, Nepal has seen a revolving door of coalition governments, largely dominated by three parties, two of them communist.
Ahead of this election, it looked set to test whether Gen Z voters had succeeded in convincing the rest of the country that it is time for a new, untested generation to shape their future, or whether veteran heavyweights – who have dominated for decades – would keep hold of power.
The country’s youth included 800,000 first-time voters, making them a key voter bloc.
Shah, who is popularly known as Balen, has been a member of the Nepali hip hop scene for several years, with one of his songs “Balidan” about sacrifice in the Nepali language cultivating millions of YouTube views.
In September 2025 unrest erupted in Nepal with so-called Gen Z demonstrations, triggered by Oli’s banning of social media platforms.
The demonstrations escalated with protesters criticising Nepal’s political system and the symbolism of class inequality “nepo babies” – children of the country’s politicians.
A total of 77 were killed during the protests, and a BBC investigation revealed the country’s police chief issued an order of lethal fire against thousands of unarmed protesters.
Shah spoke in support of the protesters and at one stage called Oli a “terrorist” who had betrayed his country.
The rapper typically shuns the media, but told the Financial Times while he was on the campaign trail he would be “the candidate for all of Nepal”.
Shah’s RSP released its manifesto in February which vowed to create 1.2 million jobs and reduce forced migration, in an effort to tap into frustration over unemployment and low wages that has pushed millions of Nepalis to move overseas.
The party has also pledged that within five years it would raise Nepal’s per capital income from $1,447 to $3,000, more than double the country’s economy to $100 billion GDP and provide safety nets such as healthcare insurance for the population.
By BBC News
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