Kathmandu, March 27: Balendra Shah (Balen) has been appointed as the 43rd Prime Minister of Nepal. President Ramchandra Paudel has appointed Shah, the leader of the parliamentary party of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), as the Head of the Government.
President Paudel is about to administer the oath of office and secrecy to Shah shortly in accordance to Article 76 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal, as the leader of the majority parliamentary party.
The newly appointed Prime Minister Shah was elected from Jhapa Constituency No. 5 in the House of Representatives election held on March 5. He defeated the chairman of the CPN (UML), KP Sharma Oli, by a large margin in the election.
The newly appointed Prime Minister Shah is the son of Ayurvedic physician Dr Ram Narayan Shah and Dhruvadevi Shah. He was born on 14th Baisakh 2047 BS (April 27, 1990) in Naradevi, Kathmandu. His ancestral home is Ekadara, Mahottari.
Shah, who has also gained fame as a rap artist, completed his MTech in Structural Engineering from India and graduated in Civil Engineering from Purbanchal University.
Shah was elected as the Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City in the local level elections of 2022. He resigned from the position of mayor on January 18, 2026 to contest in the House of Representatives elections on March 5.
During his tenure as the Mayor of Kathmandu, Shah made a significant contribution to the preservation of the Newa structures to promote tourism and the economy. He also contributed to leading urban governance and development programmes, infrastructure improvement, heritage conservation, and service delivery enhancement.
Shah had contributed to remove illegal structures and improve urban management in Kathmandu metropolis as well as especially in 2025 post-earthquake reconstruction task in different areas of Nepal.
He, who has experience in bridge, road and building design and their construction, has laid special emphasis on heritages conservation, structural conservation, economic development through tourism and traditional Newa architecture.
Shah has composed more than two dozens of rap songs which are more focused on anti-corruption activities, expectation of good governance and youth and social issues.
After the election to the second Constituent Assembly, he had expressed his concern towards the country by releasing a song ‘Ma Nepal Haseko Herna Chahanchhu (I want to see Nepal smile)’. A responsibility of fulfilling mandate of Gen Z movement is now upon the shoulder of Shah after he supported the Gen Z movement occurred on September 8 and 9.
He has to fulfill new generation’s aspiration of change.
