Balen Shah

Who is Balen Shah?

Balendra Shah (Nepali: बालेन्द्र शाह), popularly known as Balen Shah or simply Balen, is a Nepalese rapper, structural engineer and politician. He is currently serving as the 15th mayor of Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.

Shah has been a popular figure in Nepalese hip-hop since the early 2010s. Shah announced his candidacy as an independent and was elected at the 2022 local election, defeating Nepali Congress candidate Sirjana Singh and CPN (UML) candidate Keshav Sthapit. He is the first independent candidate to be elected as the mayor of Kathmandu municipality.

Time included him on their list of “Time100 Next” in 2023.

Quick Details

Early Life and Education

Balendra Shah was born on 27 April 1990 in Naradevi, Kathmandu, Nepal. He is the youngest son of Ram Narayan Shah, an Ayurvedic practitioner, and his wife Dhruvadevi Shah.

His parents moved to Kathmandu from Mahottari after his father was posted to Naradevi Ayurvedic Hospital. His paternal ancestral home is in Mahottari’s Ekdara Rural Municipality, while his mother’s family lives in Dhanusha.

Shah attended V.S. Niketan Higher Secondary School for his 10+2 studies. He received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kathmandu–based White House Institute of Science and Technology. Afterward, he received a master’s degree in structural engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka, India.

Career

Music career

From an early age, Balen Shah was interested in music and poetry. He released his first single Sadak Balak, which he has written while in the ninth grade, in 2012. He rose to prominence among Nephop fans in 2013 after his appearance on the YouTube battle rap series Raw Barz. Shah is the winner of Raw Barz’s second season (A Nepali Rap Battle League).

He has been doing Hip-hop music for more than 12 years now. He has been engaging himself in music which is mostly about social issues, mental health, political satire, etc.

Political career

Balen Shah was involved in the “We For Constitution” movement before the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal in 2015. He had also expressed interest in running for the KMC’s mayorship in the 2017 local elections but later backed down.

Shah had been mulling his plans for candidacy in 2019 through a Facebook post and on 17 December 2021 announced that he would be running for the mayoral race as an independent candidate. His campaign focused on corruption control, improving the public utilities of the city, and protecting the heritage of the city.

He was elected on 26 May 2022, winning 38.6% of the votes cast. He defeated Nepali Congress candidate Sirjana Singh and former mayor and CPN (UML) candidate Keshav Sthapit by a margin of over 23,000 votes.

Shah was sworn in as mayor on 30 May 2022, alongside his deputy, Sunita Dangol, and the entire municipal executive, comprising of all 32 ward chairpersons.

Personal Life

Balen Shah is married to Sabina Kafle, a public health professional. He lives with his family in Gairigaun, Tinkune. They have a child (daughter) born in 2023.

Discography

Photo Gallery