New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday extended wishes to Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah on his swearing-in as Nepal’s Prime Minister. He expressed optimism and looked forward towards working closely in taking forward the India-Nepal friendship.
He made the remarks in a post on X.
PM Modi said that Shah’s appointment reflects the trust of the people of Nepal in his leadership and that working together would further strengthen the ties between New Delhi and Kathmandu for the greater benefit of the people.
“Warm congratulations to Mr. Balendra Shah on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal. Your appointment reflects the trust reposed in your leadership by the people of Nepal. I look forward to working closely with you to take India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights for the mutual benefit of our two peoples”, PM Modi said on X.
Balendra Shah ‘Balen’ was sworn in as Nepal’s Prime Minister at a special ceremony held at the Office of the President on Friday. Nepal President Ramchandra Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy after appointing Shah earlier in the day under Article 76(1) of the Constitution.
The ceremony was attended by Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, National Assembly Chair Narayan Prasad Dahal, former prime ministers, senior officials, security chiefs and members of the diplomatic community.
As the 47th Prime Minister of Nepal, Balen is one of the youngest persons to be at the helm of the Himalayan nation.
Earlier on Thursday afternoon, Balen also took the oath of secrecy as a member of the House of Representatives (HoR). In 2022, a structural engineer with a signature pair of black rectangular sunglasses and a history in the underground rap scene did the unthinkable Balendra “Balen” Shah dismantled the established political machinery of Nepal to become the Mayor of Kathmandu.
Running as an independent under the symbol of a walking stick, Balen secured 61,767 votes, comfortably outstripping veterans from the Nepali Congress. Sirjana Singh secured 38,341 votes, while CPN-UML candidate Keshav Sthapit, also the former Mayor of the capital, got 38,117 votes.
Now, just four years later, the 35-year-old is no longer just a local phenomenon; he is one of the youngest Prime Ministers in the nation’s history.
Meanwhile, the first meeting of Nepal’s new Parliament after the elections early this month convened on Thursday, with newly elected members taking the oath of office and secrecy. The previous Parliament was dissolved in September 2025 after the Gen-Z protest.
Nepali Congress parliamentarian Arjun Narsingh KC, the senior-most member of the House of Representatives, administered the oath to the MPs. The ceremony was held at the under-construction multipurpose hall of the Federal Parliament at Singha Durbar.
In the House of Representatives elections held on March 5, the Rastriya Swatantra Party emerged as the largest party with 182 seats, followed by the Nepali Congress with 38 seats, CPN-UML with 25, Nepali Communist Party with 17, Shram Sanskriti Party with seven, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party with five seats.
Under the Proportional Representation system, 57 lawmakers were elected from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), 20 from the Nepali Congress (NC), 16 from the CPN (UML), nine from the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), and four each from the Shram Sanskriti Party and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). The Election Commission had announced the PR election results on March 16.
Under the First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) system, the RSP secured 125 seats, followed by the NC with 19, UML with 9, NCP with 8, Shram Sanskriti Party with 3, RPP with 1, and one independent candidate.
As per constitutional provisions, the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Federal Parliament, consists of a total of 275 members, including 165 elected through the FPTP system and 110 through the PR system. (ANI)