Nepal election: rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah beats former prime minister
A 35-year-old rapper and engineer who entered politics just four years ago has beaten a former prime minister in Nepal’s crucial parliamentary election, in a contest widely seen as a referendum on a generational shift in leadership after last year’s youth uprising. Balendra Shah – the former Kathmandu mayor widely known as Balen – surged…
Shah secured 68,348 votes against Oli’s 18,734, according to the commission when it called the election.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader will become the Himalayan republic’s next prime minister if his party’s strong showing nationwide is confirmed.
Both men contested from the eastern district of Jhapa, which observers have dubbed an “election epicentre”. Oli has won the Jhapa seat six times over the past three decades.
Once staunch supporters of Oli’s party, Neha Karki and 79 members of her extended family voted for Shah’s RSP this time.
