Shattering the dominance of established political parties in the first election after the student-led ‘Gen Z’ protests in Nepal, Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is heading towards a sweeping victory. Popularly known as Balen, the 35-year-old has been serving as Kathmandu’s 15th mayor since May 2022. At the moment, it is hard to look past his Bengaluru connection, as he completed his postgraduate engineering studies in the city.
An MTech student at Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) in Bengaluru between 2016 and 2018, Balen was among the 24 students and the first batch of the autonomous course of structural engineering. He was known among lecturers and fellow students as a rapper due to his popularity on YouTube. However, his teachers in Bengaluru said they had been unaware of his political aspirations before he became the mayor of Kathmandu.
Also Read | Who Is Balendra Shah? Engineer, Rapper, Mayor And Likely Nepal’s Next Prime Minister
‘Consistent, Highly Focused’
According to report by Indian Express, which quoted Professor Bharathi Ganesh, who was one of Balen’s lecturers during his time at NMIT termed Shah both a ‘focused’ student and a ‘popular’ rapper. “Generally, the Nepalese students I have taught have learned to play various musical instruments, and Balen was a rapper. We used to see some YouTube videos of his performances,” she said.
Although his rap music was popular among the peers in Bengaluru, they were not aware with the social messages it conveyed: “He was consistent in attending classes and remained highly focused. In fact, even after completing his studies, he would message me and other faculty members. I recall congratulating him in 2022 when he was elected as the Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal. After that, I playfully referred to him as ‘Mayor Saab’,” recalled Bhrathi Ganesh as quoted by Indian Express.
Shreyas, A V, who is now deputy registrar at NMIT, said Balen stayed in the college hostel and recalled that Balen had two other friends, one of whom is now settled in the United States. “The two other Nepalese students were named Praveen Shreshta and Sunil Lansal. The three of them were always together, attended classes regularly, and excelled in their studies. If I remember correctly, he also secured good marks in the final exam,” he added as quoted by Indian Express.
Who is Balendra Shah?
Born in Kathmandu in 1990, Balendra Shah studied civil engineering in Nepal before completing a master’s in India. Prior to his political career, he was active in Nepal’s underground hip-hop scene, using his music to address issues like corruption and social inequality.
Shah entered politics as an independent candidate and won the 2022 Kathmandu mayoral election with more than 61,000 votes, defeating candidates from established political parties. He is married to Sabina Kafle.
