Nepal’s rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn into the country’s most powerful office on Friday, a month after he swept the general elections on promises of creating jobs and restoring political stability.
Shah, 35, is now the youngest person to be prime minister of the Himalayan nation in decades, and the first to hold the post from the Madhesi community — an indigenous group with strong cultural and linguistic ties to India.
“I, Balendra Shah, in the name of the country and people, pledge that I will be loyal to the constitution… and fulfil my duty as the prime minister,” Shah said, dressed all in black and wearing his trademark dark sunglasses.
President Ram Chandra Poudel administered the oath at 12:34 p.m. local time — a 1-2-3-4 pattern deemed auspicious by Hindu priests. With about 80% of the population Hindu, astrology and numerology remain influential in Nepal’s public life.
The ceremony followed Vedic–Sanatan traditions, featuring seven conch blasts, recitations by 108 Batuks (young Hindu priests) and chants by 108 Buddhist monks. Crowds cheered and chanted Shah’s name after the ritual. He later announced his cabinet, which was subsequently sworn in.
Better known as Balen, Shah trained as a structural engineer, rose to fame as a rap artist and then served as mayor of Kathmandu. He became a prominent voice during a violent, youth-led uprising in September that toppled the old political guard — protests driven by frustration over corruption, chronic instability and stagnant economic growth.
Shah’s Rastriya Swatantrata Party (RSP) won a landslide in the first democratic election since those deadly protests, taking 182 seats in the 275-member parliament.
A day before his oath, Shah released a rap on social media that has gathered millions of views. “The strength of unity is my national power,” he sings. “My heart is full of courage, my red blood is boiling; my brothers stand with me, this time we will rise.”
Political analyst Puranjan Acharya said the new government’s first test will be the transparent and prompt delivery of services, with people expecting early signs of good governance from the start. Sunday is a working day in Nepal.
Edited by: Alex Berry