Nepal’s rapper-turned-politician looks set for landslide win
The Straits Times
His party is on track to win a potential two-thirds supermajority in the House of Representatives. Read more at straitstimes.com.
KATHMANDU – Nepal’s centrist party of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah looked set to win by a landslide in parliamentary polls, according to Election Commission trends on March 7, but with counting still far to go.
The high-stakes parliamentary election on March 5 came six months after deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government in 2025, when at least 77 people were killed.
The September 2025 youth-led demonstrations, under a loose Gen Z banner, began over a brief social media ban, but quickly tapped into broader grievances over corruption and a struggling economy.
According to early trends issued by the Election Commission on March 7, 35-year-old Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was on track to win a potential two-thirds supermajority in the 275-member House of Representatives, the Lower House of Parliament.
“Looking at the trend, the Rastriya Swatantra Party has taken the lead in many places and has won several seats,” commission spokesman Narayan Prasad Bhattarai told AFP.
If the trends are confirmed by the vote count, Mr Shah’s victory over the veteran Marxist leader – and his rise from city mayor to potential prime minister – would mark one of the most dramatic results in recent Nepali politics.
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