Nepal Has Elected This 35-Year-Old Rapper As Its Youngest Prime Minister After The Gen Z Protests Toppled The Government
Shah committed to implementing the findings of an investigation into the government's deadly crackdown on the Gen Z protests.
Nepal has elected this 35-year-old rapper as its youngest prime minister after the Gen Z protests toppled the government.
Over the past 35 years, Nepal has had 32 changes of government.
For most of that time, the same three men, KP Sharma Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, took turns holding the prime ministership.
The three men, all in their 60s and 70s, have faced persistent allegations of corruption and nepotism, and none ever completed a full five-year term.
Meanwhile, young people in Nepal have become increasingly frustrated with high unemployment rates, with more than one fifth of the population living in poverty and more than 2,000 young people leaving the country every day to find work abroad.
Then, in September 2025, Oli’s government banned 26 social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and more.
The move was the last straw for young people, who felt like they were being silenced.
Unprecedented protests led by Gen Z then erupted in Nepal on Sept. 8 as thousands of young people took to the streets against corruption and nepotism.
But security forces, including police and the Nepali Army, cracked down violently on protesters across Kathmandu and other major cities, fueling more anger.
At least 77 people were killed, and more than 1,300 others were injured.
On Sept. 9, Oli resigned, saying he would not allow the “situation to spiral further.”
The government collapsed, and protestoers set the parliament building on fire.
Nepalis then took to Discord to choose an interim government, which was formed on Sept. 12, to oversee elections in March 2026.
In the lead up to the elections, the name that started circulating on Discord and social media as the main candidate to lead the country was Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old rapper turned politician known as Balen.
Shah is a civil engineer who spent years rapping about Kathmandu's broken roads and corrupt officials.
He drew inspiration from Tupac Shakur and 50 Cent and earned a master's degree in structural engineering, according to Time.
In 2022, Shah had become the first independent candidate to win the Kathmandu mayoral race, running without any party backing.
During the 2025 protests, he released a song called "Nepal Haseko," meaning "Nepal Smiling," that gained more than 11 million views on YouTube.
After the protests, on Dec. 28, Shah joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which translates to the National Independent Party.
He then resigned as Kathmandu mayor and was officially appointed as RSP's senior leader and candidate for prime minister on Jan. 18.
Young people endorsed Shah through Instagram and TikTok videos, and those who couldn’t vote convinced their parents and grandparents to vote for him and his party in the elections on March 5.
On March 12, Shah's RSP party claimed victory with a landslide, gaining a majority of 182 of 275 seats in parliament.
It is the largest majority any party has achieved in more than six decades, according to Al Jazeera.
The two parties that had dominated Nepali politics for decades were reduced to distant runners-up, with the Nepali Congress winning 38 seats while Oli's communist party winning 25.
On Thursday, March 26, Shah released his first public statement since the historic vote with a rap song shared on social media that gained three million views within hours.
“Nepal is not scared this time, the heart is full of red blood… Laughter and happiness will reach every household this time,” Shah rapped in his song titled “Jay Mahakaali” or “Victory to Goddess Mahakali”.
"The strength of unity is my national power," he sang.
On Friday, March 27, Shah was sworn in as Nepal's youngest and first Madheshi prime minister.
During his first cabinet meeting, he committed to implementing the findings of an investigation into the government's deadly crackdown on the Gen Z protests in September 2025.
On Saturday March 28, Oli and the ex-home affairs minister were arrested over their alleged involvement in the deadly crackdown.
Sofia Hou
Cherry Mohamed
