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TRANSCRIPT
After a youth-led uprising overthrew Nepal's government last year, the country's first election since has delivered a clear endorsement of the younger generation's political power.
Defeating the recently overthrown four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli in his own seat, 35-year-old rapper turned politician Balendra Shah is on track for a landslide victory.
Bipin Adhikari is a constitutional expert and law professor at Kathmandu University.
He says the rise of Mr Shah's Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) marks a significant shift in the country.
“I must say this is a remarkable change. Because a political party (Rashtriya Swatantra Party), which had absolutely no history, except, you know, it was very unknown to the people until recently, has you know, received landslide victory.”
The youth-led, or Gen-Z, protests in September 2025 erupted over a brief social media ban, before rapidly expanding over grievances about corruption and a struggling economy.
Turning deadly when security forces killed 19 demonstrators, Nepal was plunged into chaos as dozens more were killed and thousands of buildings were set alight.
After successfully toppling the government, the Gen-Z led youth movement held a vote for Nepal's interim leader on the gaming app Discord, selecting Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki to lead until an election was held.
Balendra Shah, known as Balen, is not new to politics, having served as the Mayor of Kathmandu from 2022 to 2026.
His party, the centrist RSP, was founded less than four years ago and markets itself as a digitally fluent and younger party, with the average age of candidates decades younger than those in rival parties.
First gaining national attention through Nepal's underground hip-hop scene, Balendra Shah's politically driven music helped him cultivate a devoted following online.
Known for his lyrics opposing corruption and inequality in Nepal, Mr Shah says these themes will guide his politics.
Nearly 19 million of Nepal's 30 million people were eligible to vote in the election.
Ahead of the vote, around 800,000 new people signed up to cast a ballot, over two thirds of whom were Gen Z.
With political corruption among the key issues at stake this election, Mr Adhikari says the RSP stands to benefit from their relative newness in politics.
“I can tell you that because all these people are new, they don't have any charges of corruption, they are very committed people, they have done very well in their professions from the area they come into politics, and the organisation is very new. They don't have backlogs (past baggage) and the organisation has started to develop its fundamentals and the way it has been able to deal with the common people, you can see the result now.”
As Mayor, Mr Shah built a reputation as a blunt and often confrontational reformer, launching campaigns against tax evasion, traffic congestion and mismanagement.
His time as mayor also drew criticism for heavy handed enforcement and for broadcasting messages directly online instead of speaking to journalists.
Mr Adhikari says, despite objections to his style of leadership, he has proven that, as mayor, he can deliver change.
“As a mayor he functioned very well. Obviously there were many political parties and also the press, the media, with a number of comments on his style of work and also the way he tried to deliver but then he was successful and Kathmandu has changed a lot over the last three years, and that served as a demonstration for the capacity of Balen Shah."
For his party to successfully change Nepal, through measures such as pushing for a directly elected prime minister and judicial reform, the RSP will require support from members of the National Assembly.
The National Assembly, or upper house, is elected separately and as the RSP does not currently hold any seats there, the party will need to make a deal with existing upper house members.
Despite the possible need for compromises, RSP member Khagendra Chapagain says Balendra Shah will stick to his agenda.
“The future prime minister has clearly spoken that there will be no compromise when it comes to developing the country. Our first agenda is to develop the nation, and the focus will be to work for health, education and fight against corruption.”
The electoral system in Nepal has historically resulted in weak coalition governments.
However, before vote counting was finished, RSP was already on track to win the biggest electoral majority since Nepal became a democracy.
Independent analyst Keshab Poudel says with such high expectations, the party has a lot to deliver.
“The problem or challenge with this new party would be to deliver things, given the limited resources and the limited institutional support. Because people have high expectations, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the new party can fulfil it.”
Celebrating on the streets, Nepal's youth say that while they have laid the groundwork for this, real change is now in the hands of their new government.
20-year-old Aayush Bhattarai says this time, the government know not to break the trust of the youth.
"Now we have finally got the youngest prime minister in the world. Hope he will not forget all his promises and will work on the behalf of the people. Wish him good luck, thank you. We trusted you, now you should not play with our trust. We love you Balen. Okay, bye bye."
