Kathmandu, March 8 — Former prime minister KP Sharma Oli took to X on Saturday to congratulate Balen Shah after his decisive victory in the recent parliamentary elections, offering his best wishes for a successful five-year term.
Oli wrote on X that he warmly congratulated Balen Shah and hoped the upcoming tenure would be smooth and productive.
Balen Shah, the former mayor of Kathmandu, won the Jhapa-5 parliamentary seat, defeating his former rival KP Sharma Oli. According to the Election Commission, Balen secured 68,348 votes while Oli received 18,734.
With this win and his move to the lower house, Balen Shah has effectively confirmed his path to the prime ministership. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), formed about four years ago, dominated the contest: the party won 59 seats in the First-Past-the-Post category and is on track to secure an outright majority. The combined count of direct and proportional seats surpasses the 138-seat majority threshold in the 275-member House of Representatives.
RSP leaders have repeatedly downplayed any internal disagreement over the premiership. First-ranking vice-chairperson DP Aryal said voters backed the party because of its top figures, including Rabi Lamichhane and Balen Shah, and indicated that the parliamentary leader and future prime minister will be Balen Shah.
Balen Shah, 35, is a structural engineer who rose to prominence after a stint in the underground rap scene and for his trademark black rectangular sunglasses. In 2022 he achieved a surprise victory as an independent candidate to become mayor of Kathmandu, running under the walking stick symbol and receiving 61,767 votes. In that mayoral race he outpolled established figures such as Sirjana Singh of the Nepali Congress (38,341 votes) and former mayor Keshav Sthapit of the CPN-UML (38,117 votes).
Now, four years after becoming a local political upset, Shah stands poised to become one of Nepal’s youngest prime ministers.
(This report is based on a syndicated feed from ANI and is published as received; The Tribune assumes no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness.)
